Peace
by WouldItMatter
Summary: Naruto wanted peace. As did Hagoromo. They were different, yet the same. Perhaps, Naruto would succeed where he failed in his past. Naruto x Natsumi Namikaze x Fem! Sasuke. Reincarnated Hagoromo Naruto. Non Namikaze/Uzumaki Naruto. Rinnegan Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

A tiny, liquid droplet met the blank face of a young child, staring up at the moonlit night sky. ' _Since when was it raining?'_ The child thought to himself, blankly staring up at the stars, his gaze travelling over the black expanse, dotted by numerous white dots. In the center was one, massive white rock. ' _The moon. It calls, does it not?'_ The boy's mental voice, the voice that all people think to themselves with, it sounded tired. The boys eyes locked onto the moon, and the boy felt his chest begin to clench in on itself slightly. The boy felt… a connection with the moon. What it was, he could not say. But, he knew it was there. Like he knew there was something dripping on his face.

' _I do not see any clouds.'_ The boy thought to himself, his eyes searching the expanse of sky, searching for clouds. ' _Where is the rain coming from?'_ The child wondered, inspecting the sky, hoping to find an answer to his question. His eyes met the moon again, and their gaze stiffened, locked with the white rock. ' _The moon. Why does it call to me?'_ The child questioned, his eyes staring at the moon.

In the dead of night, silence permeating the area around the small child, power began to build. Unbeknownst to the boy, his pupil began to shrink down to a small dot. His sapphire eyes faded, losing color quickly. Then, methodically, his pupil… pulsated. Sending out ripples across his eye. The Ripples slowly came to a stop, placing themselves in concentric circles that surrounded his now miniature pupil. Then, color exploded outward of his pupil, a soft, regal purple expanding across his sclera. Eventually, the changes in his eyes settled, and the boy felt no difference. Saw no change. Felt the same. Though, he came to realize something.

' _Heh, how silly of me. That's not rain.'_ The boy's eyes finally broke from the night sky,scanning the immediate area around him. He was in his house, his door broken down and laying on the ground. Why was there a hole in his ceiling? The boy then noticed that around him lay three dead bodies. ' _It's blood.'_ The boy thought to himself, confirming his findings by bringing his right hand up to his cheek, grazing his skin, before dragging his hand back down, staring at the crimson liquid that stained his finger tips.

' _But, why is there blood here?'_ The boy asked himself, his new question prompting him to twist his back and look all around him. A tall man stood behind him, grinning insanely with a black knife glinting in the moonlight, blood dripping from the tip. Ah. That was how the blood was dripping onto him. But, this posed a new question. What was he doing here? Who was he? The boy's lips parted slightly, his throat tensing in preparation to speak, before the words fell silent. The man was raising his knife, his grin somehow stretching as he did so. ' _What is he doing?'_ The boy questioned, his eyes following the knife as it raised, before its descent began.

' _Shinra Tensei.'_ A new voice, one the boy had not heard before, rang within his head. It was old, wise, calm. It made the boy feel… peace. It made him feel safe. It was… familiar. Why was it familiar? He swore he had never heard it before, but it felt like it was there, his entire life. ' _Shinra Tensei.'_ It repeated, and the boy found that he could formulate words once more, even as the knife neared his forehead.

The boy's lips parted, muttering softly. "Shinra… Tensei." The words were soft, quiet. Eerily calm. The boy's eyes watched as the knife hovered above his forehead for a precious second, the man's eyes widening in shock, before a thunderous boom met the boy's ears, forcing him to close his eyes. His hair whipped around his head, fluttering viciously in powerful winds, before eventually it settled, and the boy withdrew his hands from his eyes.

Opening them slowly, the boy's eyes widened slightly upon seeing once more. A house surrounded him no longer. His walls were gone, not even debris surrounded him. The bodies, they were gone as well. Where had the man gone? The boy looked all around him, searching, but could not find the man. The houses to his left and right, where his neighbors resided, had chunks blown into them, pieces of his house embedded within their walls and roofs. When had those gotten there? Why was his house in pieces now?

The boy raised his head, shaggy blonde hair falling onto his face and in his eyes, but he did not care. His eyes met the moon once more, and the boy found himself smiling. His house may be gone, but there was a plus side to this. He could see the moon easier. The boy felt at peace, sitting in the crater he once called his home, his shirt destroyed and in tatters around his body. The voice returned once more within his head. ' _Sleep, child.'_ The boy was tempted to say no, for he wanted to continue to watch the moon, before he felt weight pile onto his eyelids, and he could no longer hold them up, the lids closing over his eyes and his body collapsing forward.

Line Break

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, the man who had stared the Kyuubi in the eyes and stood strong, could not believe his eyes when he and his ANBU investigated the mysterious 'boom' they had heard. A house, belonging to a civilian family, was just… destroyed. It was obvious that some sort of explosion had happened, considering that the house was torn apart and thrown all around the vicinity. The tall blonde man strode forward, entering what would have been the house, and looking around. Striding forward once more, the man knelt down and grabbed a piece of debris that was in the dead center of the house.

Lifting it easily, the man's sapphire eyes widened considerably when he found a child, the same age as his precious Natsumi-chan, laying within the debris, his shirt torn and shredded across his torso. Cautiously, Minato fed his hands beneath the boy and cradled him into his chest as his ANBU checked the rest of the house. Flipping him over, Minato stared at the face of the Civilian boy. ' _He has blonde hair like mine. Why have I not seen this boy around the village before? I wonder if he goes to the Academy… Perhaps Natsumi-chan would know him. Even so, what is he doing here? How did he live?'_ Questioned, ponderings, flew within Minato's head as he stared at the child, the small boy's soft breathing assuring the Hokage that he was still alive.

Minato sighed, however, and stood up. He would have to get the boy medical help, after all. "ANBU! Search the area and try to find me a cause. Figure out what happened here!" Minato ordered, his voice stern and powerful, before he disappeared in a yellow flash.

Line Break

Voices, faces, memories. Everything returned to Naruto, the boy's eyes flying open as he sat up quickly, eyes frantically scanning the area around him. "AHHH! Ho-Where-Wha-" Naruto muttered, breathing steadily slowing down as he figured out where he was. Why was he in a Hospital? He was fine. It was his family that needed medical attention, not him! Naruto looked around him, and down at his body, his eyes locking onto the IV in his arm. Furiously, Naruto lowered his arm to it and gripped it.

Naruto was about to yank it out of his arm when a firm hand grasped over his, stopping him in his attempt to pull the IV out of his arm. Shocked, Naruto raised his head to meet the stern eyes of a blonde woman, hazel meeting violet as the pair just stared at each other. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, brat." Her voice, it was annoyed. It matched her face, Naruto decided. His eyes flashed over the diamond in the center of her forehead, but he said nothing. She had some sort of green overcoat with a gray top underneath. Naruto couldn't find the words to describe what she was wearing. It was so, odd to him. Nothing like he would've expected.

He couldn't help but attempt to quench his childish curiosity as the woman walked over and sat down on a rolling stool, retrieving a clipboard from the wall and staring down at it. "Uh… Whyyy… Uh, Why aren't you wearing… you know, like, doctor's stuff?" The boy questioned, the woman looking up from her clipboard and staring at him with an annoyed gaze. "None of your business, brat." The woman replied, narrowing her eyes as she saw him pout angrily. "Hey, I don't think that's very good uhhhh… What did Tou-san call it… Ah yea! That's not very good bedside manner!" Naruto chided the woman, pointing his finger at her accusingly.

The woman reeled back, her face distorting into a very noticeable grimace, before she snarled at him. "I don't need to have good bedside manner brat! When you're the best Doctor there is, bedside manner doesn't mean anything!" The woman spoke, with a little more volume and force than she meant. This only served to fuel the boy more.

"Oi! I don't care if you're the friggen' god of Hospitals or something! When you are a Doctor, someone who is supposed to help people, you're supposed to be nice! Respectable! Kind!" The boy shouted, his voice gaining volume and force to match her's. The woman stared at him, narrowing her eyes, before shaking her head and returning to her clipboard. "Shut up brat." She ordered, hiding her smirk when the boy began to fume angrily, groaning frustratedly, before flopping back onto the bed. "Whatever. Where are my parents? They should be here as well." Naruto demanded, staring at the woman who allowed her lips to part slightly, her brows lowering sadly, before she lightly shook her head and her face grew stern once more.

"They're not here, kid. I don't know where they are, though I'm sure Minato-gaki knows." The woman responded, temporarily easing the boy's mind and allowing him to sink into his bed a little more, relaxed. Naruto's ears picked up the sound of a chair rolling across floor, before the woman's face shadowed over his, a clipboard in her hands. "Now, I've got some questions. What's your name, kid?" The woman began, Naruto narrowing his eyes. "What? You guys know who I am, don't be silly." Naruto muttered angrily. He'd been to this very hospital before! He was born here, for cryin' out loud!

"Oi, don't you get snappy with me brat! We've got a bunch of blondes, but you're not a Yamanaka or a Namikaze, and we for SURE don't have anyone eyes like yours. Now, who are you?" The woman demanded, frustratingly glaring into the boy's eyes. Naruto's eyes widened however. "What'dya mean? I've got blue eyes just like the Hokage!" Naruto snarled, angry and frustrated with this woman.

Her hazel eyes narrowed, before she grumbled about stupid kids and grabbed a mirror from… where the hell did she get that mirror? "Look brat. I don't know about you, but those aren't eyes I've seen before." The woman muttered, handing Naruto the mirror. The boy looked at her, before raising the mirror up to his face, making his eyes widen. "What the…" The boy whispered, holding the mirror with one hand and pulling at his eyelids with the other. He turned and twisted his face, pulled at his cheeks and eyelids, staring at his new eyes.

They were a regal purple, concentric rings surrounding a small dot-like pupil that didn't expand or constrict to meet different light amounts like his old pupil. Like normal pupils. Naruto merely stared at his eyes. This was the scene that Minato Namikaze walked in on, the mirror hiding Naruto's face from his. The boy was too occupied with his eyes to hear the door open and close. Minato looked at Tsunade, the woman shaking her head at him. Damn, so sofar she hadn't learned anything about what happened. Well, Minato knew he could be pretty persuasive.

"Hey kid, I'm the Yondaime Hokage." Minato offered, sitting down on the bed and looking at the blonde head behind the mirror. Then, the boy dropped the mirror and Mianto's eyes widened upon seeing the eye within the boy's head. ' _Is that the… I'll have to get Jiraiya-sensei.'_ Minato thought to himself, schooling his features and staring into the hypnotic purple gaze of the boy.

Minato felt as if his world tore down, the white walls of the hospital shredding around him as a void began to take hold of him. Naruto's body began to rip. Long, vertical pieces of his body tearing away until all that remained, floating in the air, were his ringed eyes. Tsunade, frozen as the world around her was, fell to the ground and shattered into pieces that melted into the black void that surrounded Minato and the eyes. Minato twisted his body and turned around, looking out of the window, and watched as the rest of the world tore away as well. Minato tried to run, but wherever he went, the eyes followed, floating behind him until the rest of the world was torn, evaporated in the everlasting darkness.

Minato turned around, falling onto his back and scrambling to get away from the purple eyes that slowly floated towards him. "Stop! Get away from me!" Minato ordered, shouting in fear as his throat tore. He grit his teeth, reeling away from the eyes as they continued to float towards him. Slowly, a body began to form around the eyes. To Minato's shock, it was not Naruto's body, but instead an older man with horns began to form around the eyes. A white cloak formed over his body, black symbols aligning his neck. Eventually, the man finished taking form, and merely floated above Minato, a red eye adorning the center of his forehead, open and intimidating as Minato found that he could not take his eyes off of it.

"Who-Who are you!?" Minato demanded, his voice shaking with fear dripping off of every syllable. The man did not say anything. Minato glared, and continued to shout and scream at the man. The man's lips parted, and his right hand raised. "Silence." Minato went to disobey, his mouth dropping open and his lungs expanding as they took in air, before that air was brutally forced out as an invisible force slammed into Minato's chest, forcing him back as his body ragdolled and rolled away from the man. The Three-Eyed figure merely floated over towards Minato's body once more. _Hokage-sama…_

Minato rolled over onto his back, glaring at the man who floated above him, though he followed the man's order and remained silent. The man narrowed his eyes, power radiating from his entire essence, before he spoke. "Minato Namikaze," _Hokage-sama…_ "Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure." _Hokage-sama…_ "You asked who I was. Let me inform you." _HOKAGE-SAMA…_ "My name is Ha-" "HOKAGE-SAMA!" Suddenly, the void Minato found himself in began to bleed color. Buildings, forestry, _Konoha_ began to take form around him. Minato saw the man's body tearing and fading. "Wait! Tell me! Who are you!" Minato shouted, raising his hand towards the rapidly fading body. The man's eyes softened, a smile coming onto his features. "I am Naruto." His words faded as his body did, only his purple eyes remained as Naruto's body took form around them.

Minato found that he was still staring at the child, who had narrowed his eyes at him, Tsunade hovering over the blonde man and slapping his face. Shaking his head, with "Wha-what?" escaping his mouth, Minato turned his gaze away from the hypnotic rings of the purple eyes. "S-Sorry." Minato muttered, shakily standing up and leaving the room quickly. Naruto watched him go, wondering exactly what was wrong with the Hokage he had long admired.

Line Break

Naruto sighed. Recently, his life had become horrible. His family had been brutally murdered by some crazed asshole that broke into his house. So, there was that. Now, he was living alone, in some random apartment provided to him by the Hokage. And, to top it all off, his eyes were so weird now! God, Naruto hated looking at them. They both intrigued and frightened him. And, he hadn't told anyone about it, but sometimes if he stared into them long enough… it looked like the very world around him would begin to tear like paper. Long, vertical strips of his wall would suddenly start to come down and evaporate as they went. However, it stopped and his world returned to normal as soon as he stopped looking into his own eyes.

Actually, Naruto wondered if he was dreaming. The Hokage had tried to tell him that his house had _blown up for_ _ **no reason.**_ What!? He may only be 12, he may be the deadlast of the Academy, but houses don't just _blow up_ for _**no reason.**_ He wasn't that stupid. Plus, there was that really weird like 5 minutes that the Hokage just stared into his eyes, almost like he was in a trance. Naruto wondered if the man had experienced the same 'tearing' that he did.

"Naruto!" Naruto's ponderings were cut short as an annoyed voice called out for him. Shocked, Naruto quickly took his head off of his desk and looked around, surprised. A small amount of drool whipped out of his mouth as he did so. "Wha-who?" Naruto questioned, looking around, until his eyes met Iruka-Sensei's, the man glaring at him. "For the last time Naruto, don't fall asleep in my class!" Iruka ordered, throwing an eraser at Naruto's head, which hit him square in the forehead and caused the boy to fall backwards in his seat, falling with the wooden furniture. The class laughed at him, and Naruto looked around.

Everywhere around him were faceless figures, only their wide, laughing grins visible. The chirping of birds, the colors of the classroom, everything blended and melted together into a haze of laughter and pointed fingers. Naruto looked all around him, whipping his body back and forth, twisting in some sort of crazed anxiety as he tried to escape the scrutiny of his classmates. He could find no such solace. Tears started to build in Naruto's eyes, the rippled purple frantically gazing past all of the grins.

"Stop…" The laughter persisted. "Stop…" The laughter persisted. "Stop." The laughter stopped, as Naruto's head quickly raising off of his desk as he sucked in his drool, the class turning around to look at him with bored, annoyed expressions on their faces. Iruka turned around as well, before smirking. "So, you decided to grace us with your presence after such a… wonderful rest, eh Naruto?" The class snickered, but Naruto found that it was much more tolerable than the laughter from what he guessed was actually a dream… or in this case a nightmare. Iruka, seeing that he had successfully gotten the class to laugh, turned around once more and began to write on the chalkboard, returning to whatever History crap he had been talking about before.

Naruto slumped forward, placing his chin on his forearms, his purple eyes sweeping over the room. Why was he so… alone now? Did he really not have anyone outside of his parents? His ringed eyes swept over the room again, searching for a single person. A friend. Did he really… not have any friends? Was that why whenever he thought of the Academy, he felt lonely? He search stopped on a red-haired girl, who for some reason was looking at him. Her Sapphire eyes dug into his royal purple ones. ' _Kurama…'_ The voice from before returned, causing Naruto's eyes to widen and the boy to look all around him. "Huh? Wh-Who's there!?" Naruto called out, the class giggling as they turned to look at him. Naruto caught the gaze of the red-haired girl once more, who then sneered at him and turned around, clearly angry at something.

The class turned around once more, Iruka looking angry at Naruto's outburst but doing nothing about it. He had heard about his parent's murder, so he could at least cut the boy slack when he was awake. But still, NO ONE WOULD SLEEP IN HIS CLASS.

Naruto slumped forward once more, burying his face in his arms. His black shirt pulled at his chest, stretched slightly. He did not mind. He looked at the wood of his desk, his eyes lazily tracing the patterns within the furniture. ' _Lonely… Why do I feel so alone? Is no one in class willing to give me a chance?'_ Naruto pondered, sorrowful thoughts taking a hold of his head before an eraser hit the back of it, summoning the boy's head to rise. "Naruto! Who is the Shodai Hokage!?" Iruka demanded, annoyed as he rubbed at the ridge of his face, waiting to berate the child for yet another wrong answer.

Naruto looked at the man blankly, trying in vain to remember, before suddenly the information flooded his mind. "Uhhh… The Shodai Hokage, known to those close to him as Hashirama Senju, was the only known wielder of the Mokuton, or Wood Release. He was able to create this Jutsu Style by infusing Earth and Water Chakra together, creating Wood. He became a master of his new blood line, but did not allow himself to be limited by it. Instead, he also worked on normal Jutsu styles and Taijutsu, becoming a legendary shinobi. He had befriended Madara Uchiha, the Progenitor of the Uchiha Clan, and the pair of Legendary Shinobi created Konohagakure, the First Hidden Village. After being brought up in a time of warring clans fighting for power, Hashirama decided he wanted peace. Using his Mokuton, he gathered the 9 Bijuu, and gave them away, keeping the 9-Tails within Konoha, or specifically sealing it within his wife, Mito Uzumaki. Hashirama died as a Legendary Shinobi, which to some has still not been surpassed to this day." Naruto finished, looking a little shocked that he knew the knowledge as the entire class was as well. Iruka was shocked because he, the teacher, didn't know some of the things Naruto spoke of. "U-Uhhh… Very good Naruto." Iruka stated, baffled as he never expected those words to leave his mouth.

Naruto stared at the class, who were looking at him with wide eyes, before shrinking away from their gazes, shy and embarrassed. He had never received praise from anyone other than his parents before, and it was all so new to him. "Well, anyway class, I think that's enough lecturing for today. After all, you are 4th year students, meaning this is your last year in the Academy should you pass the Genin Exam. So, we might as well get you started fighting, ne?" Iruka questioned with a smile, his eyes squinting. His smile was met with shouts of happiness from the students, though Naruto looked apprehensive, going noticed only by a couple of people who had taken an interest in the boy. One of these people was observing him through the windows of the room, more particularly, his eyes.

Naruto followed the class as they were ushered out, trailing slightly behind but still keeping. He observed, watched as the students almost seemed to jump up and down in excitement. Why were they excited? They were being led to a battleground, where they would learn to kill each other. His view of the Academy and of Shinobi had been steadily shifting over nights of dreamy sleep, thoughts that belonged to a past version of him flooding his mind. Memories, vague and blurry to his mind's eye for the current time, flew past. Naruto's goal in life had changed. No longer did he want to be the best Shinobi, to become the Hokage. No, in fact, he wanted peace. He wanted to bring the world the peace it so rightfully deserved. Perhaps being a Shinobi was the correct path to that peace. He did not know. It confused him, boggled his mind. He found that, occasionally, it was all he could think of. He wondered if it was because he had nothing better to do, merely sitting alone, in his small, quiet apartment. Why hadn't the Hokage put him in the Orphanage again? Oh, yea. He'd told him not to. Right.

"Alright class. It's going to be a basic 1 on 1 style of Sparring. We will randomly match you up with your opponent, and whoever wins will be gifted 5 points of extra credit." That seemed stupid to Naruto. That was rewarding clan heirs and students who were already practicing, and putting down those that weren't. And randomly selecting partners? That was ridiculous. While, yes, they would eventually be put up against vastly differing enemies out in the field, to be that far in strength where they had no experience, no knowledge on how to handle situations like that, it was stupid. And another thing, why the hell did Naruto suddenly care?! And how was he even thinking of this stuff!? Naruto shook his head, ridding it of such thoughts, and proceeded to just wait for whatever fight he would have.

"Naruto Vs…" Iruka dug his hand into the pouch they were using to draw names. Withdrawing the small piece of paper, Iruka brought it to his eyes. "Naruto Vs Sasuke Uchiha!" Iruka shouted, the class muttering amongst themselves, a few bets even taking place. Naruto entered the ring, and stared at his raven-haired opponent. The Pale-skinned girl was staring at him, emotions locked away behind her ebony eyes. She gracefully settled into a stance, no doubt taught to her by her family, before she nodded her head towards Iruka. Naruto narrowed his eyes, merely standing there, and nodded his head towards Iruka. He knew he would lose, there was no point in settling into a stance. "Naruto, are you sure? You're not even going to take a stance?" Iruka questioned, some of the students laughing. Even Sasuke cracked a smirk. Naruto dragged his gaze lazily up towards Iruka.

"Well, obviously I am outclassed here, Iruka-Sensei. There is no point in trying against a clan member, when I myself have had no prior training and I haven't bothered to learn the Academy Style because I know it is pointless in the long run. Our Jounin Sensei's are likely to find a proper stance for us, and the Academy one is really only used to get us used to fighting, is it not?" Naruto questioned, Iruka shocked at his inquisitiveness, before rubbing the bridge of his nose frustrated. "Naruto, you should at least try…" "Why, Sensei? Truly, why? It is not like this will affect my grade, for only the winner receives extra credit, and this is not truly a graded assignment." Naruto fired back, staring at his teacher with his hypnotic purple eyes.

"You said it yourself Naruto, this is to get you used to fighting. So, you should get used to it, ne?" Iruka questioned, and smirked when Naruto turned his gaze back to Sasuke. "Meh, I have no stance anyway." And Iruka promptly sweatdropped when the class laughed. "Fine, fine… HAJIME!" Iruka called out, dropping his arm down to signal the start of the fight. Sasuke rushed forward, a determined look in her eye. Naruto watched, annoyed and just waiting for his defeat, until he noticed something. He could see her movements, see what she would do before she did it. How? How was he doing this. Surely, he could win if he knew what she would do prior to doing it, right?

Naruto smirked, deciding that he stood a chance of winning. As Sasuke surged forward, Naruto watched. Suddenly, Sasuke reeled her arm back and prepared to launch it at his chest. Naruto dodged to his left, and slinked his arm around her waist, throwing her away from him with his right arm. The class was shocked, none more so than Sasuke. She grinned slightly, though squashed it as she got up, steadying back into her stance, before rocketing off once more, this time at an even greater speed. Naruto's eyes widened, as she approached much faster than he anticipated. Her fist connected squarely on his sternum, and launched the boy backwards. Naruto stumbled backwards, coughing, and opened his eyes in time to catch the girl rushing him once more. ' _She's preparing a kick, crap!'_ Naruto thought, ducking quickly, dropping down actually onto his butt, as he did not have the skill to complete the drop and be able to get back up.

Naruto looked up, watching as she went to drop her leg onto him once more. Naruto quickly rolled over onto his right, but hit her other leg, and now found himself trapped beneath her. Sasuke growled lowly, a light blush escaping onto her cheeks, before she dropped down with an elbow to Naruto's face. Naruto saw stars, his eyes closing and opening rapidly and slowly at the same time. "Ugh…" Naruto moaned, his vision clearing to see Sasuke preparing to punch him in the face again, her legs on his arms and pinning him there. ' _Crap!'_ Naruto thought, trying to frantically get out of the situation. The arm lowered, but Naruto rolled over slightly, knocking Sasuke over and allowing Naruto to scramble up, away from the girl.

"Oi! Can't you try to win by getting me out of the circle instead of knocking me out!?" Naruto demanded angrily, some blood leaking from his mouth slightly where she had elbowed him. Sasuke got up angrily, pointing at him. "You were the one that rolled underneath me!" Sasuke shouted back. Naruto growled, stomping up and jabbing his finger in the center of her chest. "And you were the one trying to kick me to kingdom come!" Naruto accused, the pair glaring at each other. Kiba suddenly giggled, and shouted out, "Kiss already!" Naruto and Sasuke blushed, looked at each other, before glaring and jumping away from each other hastily. "Winner: Naruto!" Iruka's voice cut out. "Huh!?" Both Sasuke and Naruto questioned, turning their heads to stare at Iruka in bewilderment.

"Sasuke stepped out of the ring, and gave up the win." Iruka supplied, and the class looked at her feet, finding one completely out of the ring. She had jumped far enough away from Naruto to lose. Naruto grinned, he had actually won! That was a first. Naruto scanned his classmate's eyes, searching their eyes for approval. Instead, he found pity, and amusement. They pitied Sasuke… why? Naruto then met Sasuke's eyes, and saw that she was incredibly angry. She was glaring at him. Naruto swore he could feel heat hit his face as she glared, and it felt as if he was going to die.

Line Break

Naruto sighed, hanging his head down as he strode out of the Academy, a swarm of students flowing from the building. He hastily shoved his hands into his pants, his white shirt fluttering in the wind slightly. He looked up, gazing around him. He saw many students jump into their parent's arms, of course these were the early-entry students, the 5 and 6 year olds. He saw families gather to pick up their children. He saw Siblings laugh and giggle with each other as they ran out. It… hurt. Naruto felt his chest clench, his heart beating within his very ears. His eyes, every time it beat, darkness surged through his eyes in tiny tendrils that vanished immediately after, only to come back with each beat. Why? Naruto smiled softly. He knew why. He was grieving. Why wasn't he crying?

He began to walk forward once more, hanging his head again. He knew why he wasn't crying. It was more of a resigned grief. He knew it had happened, and that he didn't have the power to change that. He didn't know why but a surge of… _something_ flowed through his eyes as he thought about that. Perhaps he could… resurrect them? He had seen ninjas do almost anything he could think of. Spew Fire Dragons from their mouths, create copies of themselves, even walk the corridors of other's minds. All with chakra. Perhaps… chakra could bring back his parents? Naruto's mind wandered down dark paths as he walked, his body bouncing and swaying with each step. His purple eyes pulsated power, though he did not feel it.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a firm grip on his shoulder, which pulled him around. Naruto found himself whipped around, his purple eyes meeting the enraged ebony ones of Sasuke Uchiha. The girl glared, before drawing back her arm, and slamming her fist into Naruto's cheek. "Gah!" Naruto cried out in pain, his body twisting in the air and sending him onto the ground, dragging through the dirt. "Ugh… what the hell…" Naruto groaned, slowly getting up, only to fall back down by a kick to his back. "Hey! Stop it! Stop!" Naruto cried out as the girl proceeded to stomp on his back.

"Sasuke! That is enough!" A stern older voice called out. Naruto looked over his shoulder to watch as Sasuke was pulled back by the arm by an older Uchiha boy, Red Sharingan spinning angrily in his eyes. "Mind explaining to me exactly why you are bullying this young boy?" The boy questioned sternly, his Sharingan slowing down slightly. Sasuke met his gaze defiantly, glaring at him. "He humiliated me!" Sasuke shouted back at her brother. Naruto groaned, getting up. "It wasn't my fault you jumped out of the ring!" Naruto shouted angrily, pointing a finger at her as he held his chest.

Sasuke growled, before pointing her finger at Naruto as well. "You were going to… You were going to… Y-You were going to kiss me!" Sasuke shouted angrily, her cheeks reddening slightly. Naruto growled, dropping his arm and glaring. "As if! Who'd kiss you, a toad!?" Naruto countered, this infuriating Sasuke more, much to the confusion of Naruto. He didn't know why she was doing that. Unfortunately, Itachi did. He sighed, rubbing the ridge of his nose. He had a decision to make here. Should he A: Just take his sister home and leave it at that. B: Take her home and question her on where she stood with the boy. C: Question her here. Or D: Tell her to get over her little lover's quarrel in public, confusing the boy and embarrassing his sister.

' _Option B. If she likes that boy then I've gotta straighten her out. She'll only drive him away like this.'_ Itachi thought to himself, before gripping her shoulder and poofing away with a swift use of Shunshin. Naruto looked at where the pair had just been, before groaning and clutching his aching chest. Just what was _wrong_ with that girl!?

Line Break

Pein stared at the crowd that had gathered before him, from 6 different views. 5 were hidden, watching the Ame Citizens and waiting, while 1 stood confidently in front of the crowd, face stern and purple eyes glowing. "I am God. Whether you believe me or not will not change the fact that I am God." Pein spoke, his words cold and emotionless. His Purple eyes, the ones belonging to the non-hidden path, gazed across the crowd of civilians. None of them believed him. His eyes narrowed seeing this.

A gruff old man stepped forward, his gray goatee flowing down from his chin to his sternum. He adjusted a pair of glasses on his nose, before smirking. "If you really are God, a deity, what could you even do for us, huh? You look Human, you sound Human, and if I was creepy, I'd walk up to you, and I bet you'd even smell Human. There is nothing you have that we do not." The man defiantly spoke, his eyes alight with confidence matching Pein's. The man controlling the bodies struggled, a grimace contorting his face. He wanted, so very badly, to _make_ these people listen. To _make_ them see him as God. But, he knew, that if he did that, he'd be no better than Hanzo the Salamander. He wanted to distance his rule from that man's rule as much as he could.

"I assure you, that I can do much, _much_ more than any of you can." Pein responded, emotionlessly standing in front of the crowd like a statue. The man chuckled, bringing his hand to his gut and bending forward while the crowd behind him nervously chuckled with him. "Hanzo the Salamander thought the same as you. But, there is one thing that no-one, not even he, not even you, could do. So, tell me, _God,_ if you really are a deity, if you really are a God, then tell me this. Can you stop the rain?" This question caught Pein off guard, and he chided himself. Surely, he could stop the rain.

The man in front of him continued. "Let's make a deal, mister God. If you can stop the rain, for 10 seconds, just 10 seconds, then I will bow my head and call you God." The man offered, smirking confidently. Pein wanted to kill this man, but only his real face showed it. "Fine." Pein's emotionless response came.

The Orange-Haired man's head rolled back, his purple eyes glowing as the rain hit them. This had to be possible. He _had_ to make these people believe him. Slowly, he raised his hands, and allowed the body to channel his power through the metal piercings within it. Power began to rumble through the arms of the visible path, and eventually, he willed it to speak. "Shinra Tensei." The path muttered, stern and cold, before the rain stopped, hitting some sort of forcefield.

The man stepped forward, his mouth dropped, and he reached his hand underneath the field. It was dry. "No way…" The man muttered, before snarling. "You've gotta keep this up for 7 more seconds, chump." The man informed, snarling angrily. He'd bow to no false god! Pein, at least the path, did not respond. The man behind the paths, shook with exertion. He even started to cough and choke. No! He could do it! Only 4 more seconds now. He could do it! Suddenly, the Red-Haired man lurched forward and spat out blood. The path's arms dropped, and the rain slammed back down onto him, his Orange Hair sticking to his face.

The man stepped back, crossed his arms, and smirked. "You are no God. You are a Man, much like me. I Bow to no Man." The Goatee Man chided, turning around and disappearing into the crowd as it began to disperse.

Pein stared at the ground, as it splashed with droplets of rain. Why had he failed? The Rikudo Sennin was hailed as a _God,_ a true god that could do anything. Why couldn't he? He had the eyes of the Sennin, the eyes of _God._ And he… failed? How was that possible? Jiraiya had said he was the Child of Prophec- No. That was it. Jiraiya had been wrong about how to achieve peace. That meant, he was wrong about his eyes. These were _not_ the eyes of the Rikudo Sennin. They were a cheap knock off. Fakes. Imitations. The Rikudo Sennin's eyes were said to allow him to create anything. All Pein could create was death, destruction, and ironically enough Pain. He had failed to become strong enough to force the world into peace. No. He hadn't. He just didn't have the Tailed Beasts yet. Yea. That was it. That had to be it.

Yahiko's body tilted its head back up once more, the Path of Pein reunited with the other paths once they jumped down with it. "We are Pein. We are God. We. Are. Peace." The Paths said in unison, before jumping away.

Line Break

Naruto wandered throughout Konoha, aimlessly walking without any real purpose or destination. He was looking at his feet, watching each step his feet took. He watched the path beneath him as it blurred with his movement. He raised his head randomly, feeling compelled to. He realized why the path seemed familiar. He was staring at his house. Why had his feet made him wander here? Perhaps he wasn't as okay with their deaths as he thought he was? He chuckled, despite the crazy looks he received from those around him. Why was he even calling a crater a house? It was a marker, telling those that saw it where his house _used_ to be. It was no longer there, and it was no longer a house.

Naruto felt something wet hit his head. Two more somethings hit his head and pierced the canopy of his hair, allowing the wetness to reach his scalp. Naruto looked up, droplets of liquid hitting his face and sliding down his cheeks. Oh. It was starting to rain. That's what it was. Rain. Funny. He almost worried that he was going to look up and see blood hitting his face. Naruto dropped his head, walking forward into the center of the crater as the rain grew in intensity, before Naruto found himself standing in the middle of a downpour, standing in what used to be his house, now reduced to a crater. How had that even happened? Houses didn't just explode. Nothing just exploded for no reason.

Naruto looked up once more, before looking down with a grunt. Some rain had gotten into his eye, it was cold. It hurt. It stung actually. Naruto picked at his eye, rubbing it softly. Stupid Rain. It was so irritating now. Why could he feel every single drop? Why was it so persistent!? It was annoying, incredibly so! Gah, he just wanted it to stop! Stop! STOP!

"STOP!" Naruto screamed out, flailing his arms out and pulling at his hair. He continued to pull, scrunching his eyes and trying to rip his hair out. "Uhuh… h-hey Naruto? U-Uh… what're you… what're you doing? I-I mean with the rain?" A meek, weak voice came out behind Naruto. The boy turned around angrily, snarling as he dropped his arms and scanned the area behind him. His eyes widened and his snarl dropped when he found the Namikaze Princess standing behind him.

"Huh? What'd you say?" Naruto questioned, turning around to look at her. In the back of his mind he noted he didn't feel the rain anymore. Why was that? He supposed it just stopped raining. "U-uh I was just asking what you were doing with the rain?" The Namikaze Girl questioned once more, pointing above Naruto. Naruto gave her an odd look, like she was crazy, before he looked above him. His jaw dropped as he did so.

"What the…" Naruto muttered. For, what he saw, was rain just bouncing off of some sort of barrier. It was above him, it surrounded his hous-crater and didn't allow a single drop of rain to pierce it. "Woah…" Naruto mumbled, walking forward towards the edge of the barrier, and attempting to reach out and touch it. It moved away from his touch, expanded and suddenly the area where the rain did not touch was larger. "This is so… weird… But it's like, cool." Naruto spoke out loud, to himself mostly. He was almost shocked when the Namikaze Girl stepped towards him and spoke as well.

"How are you doing this?" She questioned, her voice smooth and calm. Why didn't Naruto remember her voice sounding like that? Wait, did she ever speak to Naruto before? Naruto shook his head, deciding to just answer her question. "I don't know… I don't even know if I'm the one doing this." Naruto answered, staring at the barrier with a childish awe lighting up his eyes. Naruto did not notice the Namikaze girl step a little closer to him, reaching her hand out to touch the barrier.

Naruto watched in fascination as the barrier did not grow for her, and her hand actually pushed past it. She withdrew her hand, and looked at it. It was now drenched. "This is really cool Naruto!" She squealed in delight. Naruto looked at her with a slight blush. Why did he like the way his name rolled off of her tongue? She looked at him, before her eyes widened. "Naruto! Your eyes… they're… glowing." She told him, locked onto his eyes and staring at them. "Wait, really!?" Naruto exclaimed, reeling back and trying to find something to look at his eyes with.

The Namikaze Girl nodded her head vigorously, clearly excited by the gleam in her eye and the childish smile she had plastered onto her face. "Are you channeling chakra to your eyes, Naruto?" The girl questioned, staring intently at him. Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "I… I don't know how to do that…" Naruto mumbled, looking away from the girl with an embarrassed look. "Hmm? What'd you say Naruto?" The girl pestered once more, leaning closer into him to try and hear him. "I said I don't know how to do that okay!" Naruto told her loudly, angrily shaking his fists. God, now she'd make fun of him! Like everyone else had! It wasn't his fault his parents were just merchants! Naruto huffed and turned around, crossing his arms and angrily glaring at the crater that was once his home.

He felt a soft grip on his shoulder, prompting him to turn around reluctantly. He met the soft smiling face of the Namikaze girl. "That's alright, at least it answers my question. You didn't always have those purple eyes of your's, did you?" The girl questioned like she already knew the answer. Naruto looked at her oddly, tilting his head and raising a brow, before shaking his head and touching his chin. "No, my eyes were blue before…" Naruto started shaking, looking down at the crater of his home. "Before…" Naruto balled his fists, tears began to build in his eyes. "Before my parents died." His voice was cold, his shaking suddenly stopped, and a single tear dripped off of his nose. The girl placed her other hand on his other shoulder, and snaked the other one further around his back and patted it slightly.

"Hey, it's alright. You're okay, aren't you?" She asked, trying to console him. "No. No it's not alright! I get to live while my parents don't! That man took them away from me for no reason! And he smiled while he did it!" Naruto growled, grasping in front of his stomach for something to strangle. He was so… angry now. Why was he angry? He didn't understand. He knew he couldn't get them back, so why was he angry? He should be thankful he's alive. He knows they wouldn't want him to be mad, so why was he? Naruto's lips parted and he stopped grasping the area in front of him, a high pitched ringing blocking out any other noise. Why _was_ he mad? Was this what revenge was? This cruel, cold feeling in his chest? It constricted his lungs, pressed on his heart, made it feel like his ribs were going to crack under the pressure. Naruto decided he didn't like the feeling.

Naruto raised his head and met the, was she worried?, eyes of the Namikaze girl. Then, Naruto furrowed his brows. Why didn't he know her name? It was on the tip of his tongue. Why couldn't he think of it? His anger was forgotten, cast away, when he realized this fact. Had he not been so absorbed with thinking of her name, he would've wondered about how he found it so easy to forget his anger. "Hey, I'm sorry but uh… wha-what's your… N-name?" Naruto asked shyly, looking away from her to avoid the embarrassment it would generate and the anger he'd see in her eyes. She looked at him, before shaking her head and dislodging her arms from around him. "It's Natsumi, Namika-" "Oh shut up I know you're a Namikaze. All everyone calls you is The Namikaze Princess. Pfft. That's stupid. I wanted to know your name so I didn't become one of those idiots." Naruto told her with conviction, his eyes fiery.

Natsumi stared at him, her lips parting and her mouth trying to formulate words, before she settled on a smile. "That… means a lot to me. Most people see me as the Hokage's Daughter. But… I just want them to look at me and see Natsumi, not Namikaze or my Father or Hokage's Daughter or anything stupid like that." Natsumi explained, looking down with a sad expression. She felt Naruto's hand grip her shoulder tightly, the boy knowing no restraint with anything he did, before he tipped her chin up with his index finger. She looked into his eyes, and watched as he raised a finger up to point at her while his eyes narrowed and his mouth twisted into a grimace.

"Oi! Don't give me that crap, alright? Those people are idiots. They are stupid idiots just trying to get in good with you so that they can get closer to your father. I don't give a crap about your dad being the Hokage! All I see him as is someone to surpass! Someone to get better than! So, Natsumi, don't give me this sap story, alright? Because, I don't need it. I only saw you as the Namikaze Girl, because everyone was too stupid to tell me your real name, and I wasn't interested enough to go and ask you. But, now, I see you for who you are. Natsumi. Not Natsumi Namikaze, just Natsumi. Got that!?" Naruto questioned angrily, his finger pointing at her and making jabbing motions when he finished.

Despite his rough nature, and his extremely blunt words, Natsumi found herself smiling, nodding her head as he dislodged his grip from her shoulder. "Good." Naruto groaned out, turning around to look at the barrier around them again. He stared at it, before walking to the other end of the barrier, the one closer to the road, or where his door used to be. He touched the barrier, and once more it expanded. "How far do you think this can get?" Naruto questioned out loud, though he did not wait for Natsumi's answer before he pressed forward once more.

The barrier stretched to accommodate him as he began to walk forward, and Naruto gained confidence, running forward, the barrier matching his speed and stretching forward. The rain did not hit Naruto, nor did it hit Natsumi who watched from his house. Naruto looked up, excited as he ran, until a single droplet of rain hit the very center of his forehead, and flowed down between his eyes. "Huh?" Naruto muttered, before suddenly the rain began to pour once more, the barrier gone.

Natusmi watched from the crater as Naruto stared up at the rain, the dark sky meeting his gaze and unwavering in its own gaze. She went to reach out for him with her hand, but stopped. Why had she never seen this before? Why did the boy look so… _lonely._ He merely stood there, in the rain, his shoulders slumped forward and his arms dangling down to his thighs. He just… stood there. Aimlessly. He looked lost. Natsumi reached out with her hand, but found that whatever words she could've formed, died in her throat. She felt her chest clench slightly, before she shook her head and ran to him.

 _Okay. New story here. Also, this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Crazy I guess. Anyway, tell me what you think. Uh… Pairing... Probably Naruto x Natsumi x Sasuke. I could include others if you want, and If i think it could work. Anyway, tell me what you think, and I'm out._


	2. Chapter 2

_Pein stared at the figure that stood across from him, bathed in shadow. The only feature that Pein could make out, even with all Six of his Paths staring at the figure, was the Mirrored Image of the Rinnegan, glowing from the figure's shadowed face. As if the pair choreographed a dance, the Deva Path and the Figure raised a hand to each other, palms out and fingers extended. Their Ringed eyes met, power_ _ **dripping**_ _from the eyes like tears, before Pein muttered "Shinra Tensei." Nothing happened. Neither figure moved, though Pein's eyes widened. "Impossible. You shouldn't be able to-" "Heh." The figure interupted Pein with a short chuckle, dropping its arm but keeping its gaze locked onto Pein's eyes._

 _The figure did not react other than raise an arm to the jutsu hurled at it by Konan, surprisingly not a paper jutsu. The Jutsu merely met a barrier in front of the figure's hand, and promptly sank into nothingness. Pein's eyes once more widened. He knew what the figure had done, he had done it numerous times in his life. Pein watched as the figure smirked, brilliant white teeth shining despite its blackened body. The figure opened its mouth, but only vague, muffled mumbles left his its mouth, annoying Pein and frightening him at the same time._

 _The Shadowed Figure then withdrew its head and laughed boisterously. The laughter haunted Pein, his paths falling at the feet of Yahiko's body, before that too followed, holding their heads and howling, shrill and pained. Nagato's real body, dislodged from the statue that taunted him and kept him alive all at the same time. Nagato began to hold his head, palms covering his ears, just trying to stop the sounds, the howling shrieks of his paths, before suddenly the bodies slumped forward, the Rinnegan in their eyes fading. Nagato panted, holding his chest and looking at the figure, which was no longer smiling, instead, its Rinnegan eyes pierced through the eternal darkness surrounding Nagato and the figure._

 _Slowly, the figure began to approach Nagato. The Red-Haired man's eyes widened, his face twisting and churning into a scared, frightful grimace as he stumbled backwards. "Stay… STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Nagato screamed, his throat tearing and shredding. The figure persisted, even when Nagato fell and continued to try to scramble away despite the rapidly approaching shadowy figure. Eventually, Nagato felt as if he hit a wall, and he cast his terrified gaze up at the figure standing before him._

 _The figure turned its head left and right, looking around the darkened area they were in. "Your mind, it has deteriorated. This is Hanzo's doing, is it not?" The figure questioned randomly, looking down at Pein. The man just continued to stare at him in fear. "Hmpf. Of course you don't understand. My apologies, I'm used to Jinchuriki minds. My name is," Suddenly, glowing purple chains wrapped around the figure, pulling it back slowly._

" _Damnit, I don't have much time." The figure grunted out, resisting the chains and attempting to reach out and touch Nagato's forehead. "I-gruagh-I need you to… Understand!" The figure grunted out, trying in vain to touch Nagato's forehead, missing the pale canvas just barely, before the chains glowed brighter. Nagato stared at the blonde hair that seemed to be mixing with an odd tannish color, tan skin mixing with an odd palish chalk. The figure grunted, horns slightly protruding from its forehead, a third eye in the center of its forehead barely, ever so barely, creaking open, glowing red. It struggled against the chains, its eyes meeting Nagato's. "My name is… Hagor-Naru-," The figure stopped, looking down at nothing, contemplating. It raised its head again, before suddenly it was pulled back into the darkness with a blurring speed._

-Line Break-

Glowing violet, concentric-ringed eyes stared dully forward, casting a soft, almost unnoticeable glow across the fingers laced over the mouth of the owner of said eyes. Blonde hair hung shaggily over the forehead of the owner, one large lock falling between both eyes, though it was cast slightly to the left, clipping the edge of the purple eye that rest behind it. The eyes closed, the owner withdrawing backwards with a sigh as he removed his hands from his mouth, instead dropping the right one onto the wooden table, the left hand reaching back and resting over the backrest of the wooden chair he was seated in.

The eyes of Naruto opened once more, staring with boredom at the Chunin Instructor known as Iruka Umino, who was busy giving the class a last minute speech before he announced their teams. It irritated Naruto to no end. The man spoke of his students, how he was proud of them, how he believed they would lead lives of greatness and earn glory for themselves. Naruto frowned at that particular thought.

Lately, Naruto found that he no longer saw the glory others did in one's ability to kill. One such example was the Yondaime Hokage. He had gained fame through his ability to slaughter entire armies within seconds. Why would a man with such killing potential be granted fame instead of infamy? Why did the Human Race respect its ability to kill itself? Naruto then thought of Hashirama Senju, the Shodai Hokage. The man was respected for his Mokuton Abilities, which made him a God on the battlefield, unbeatable by all except Madara Uchiha, his friend and rival.

Naruto, however, found that he respected the man's quest to bring peace to the lands that had long since been plunged into a warring state between clans. Now, while Naruto found that he respected the man for that, he found that he disagreed, with a surprising amount of… loathing? Anger? Naruto wasn't sure what he felt, but he was surprisingly angry when he thought of the man's method. Capturing the Bijuu and spreading them across the villages? What would that accomplish?

The man had done it because he thought it would bring about a power balance, shifting the scales of war so that it would be equal. But, what confused Naruto was, wasn't a scale just as balanced if you removed everything on it? Why did the Shodai feel the need to place things onto the scale? Naruto suddenly glared at his right hand, which was lazily tapping on the wooden desk in front of him. Why did the man feel the need to enslave creatures that were not bothering him at all? Up until that point, the Bijuu had peacefully lived away from humanity. It was Madara Uchiha that had made the Kyuubi attack Hashirama, not the Kyuubi's own free will. Naruto was angered. A sentient being's freedom was not something that should ever have been sacrificed for a false imitation of peace.

Naruto closed his eyes, bringing his right hand up to slowly rub the bridge of his nose, before he dropped it back down and opened his eyes, and ears, to the man in front of him. "Team 7, Naruto, Natsumi Namikaze, and Sasuke Uchiha, under Kushina Uzumaki!" Iruka called out, prompting Naruto to search the room for his new teammates. Both, he was somewhat acquainted with. Natsumi Namikaze, Heir to the Namikaze and Uzumaki conjoined clan, daughter of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, and Kushina Uzumaki, their new sensei, no doubt picked because she wanted to teach her daughter. Naruto frowned once more at that thought. Whether it was unintentional or not, there was bound to be favoritism within the team. That would bring nothing good. Their sensei was bound to make biased decisions, favor Natsumi, and overall throw the team's potential askew.

And then there was Sasuke Uchiha, Second Born Daughter of the Uchiha Clan Head Fugaku Uchiha and his wife Mikoto Uchiha, sister of Itachi Uchiha, the greatest prodigy to have graced the Uchiha Clan since Madara Uchiha. The girl had a nasty ego, and a need to prove herself. Naruto's frown deepened. The girl positively hated him. His first real encounter with her had been the spar, which ended with her boot on his back, and since then she had been avoiding him. Not only that, but she was an Uchiha, the Clan Head's daughter no less. The Favoritism within the team would do nothing to her, as she would be taught once she got home as well, further segregating the team.

Naruto gazed down at his hand, watching as the tendons stretched his skin as his fingers tapped the wooden desk. The only one who was really being hurt by this team's structure was him, and he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about it. Here he sat, with the Rookie of the Year and the Kunoichi of the Year as his teammates, with an S-Class Shinobi as his Sensei, and he had felt cheated. He was placed in what could very well be the strongest Genin Team coming out of Konoha, at least, immediately out of the Academy, and he wasn't satisfied with his placement.

Naruto sighed, rolling his head back and staring at the ceiling. He wished that he had been placed in an all-civilian team with a simple Jounin instructor. There would be no favoritism, none of the genin would have more training than the others, and the Jounin would have no reason to make them take missions above D-rank for quite some time.

At that particular thought, Naruto furrowed his brow in thought. Why did the thought of a mission above D-rank make him feel apprehensive? Before his parent's death, Naruto had been excited to leave the village and find himself fame. Glory. Before his parent's death, he would've been positively ecstatic about his team's placement, especially his sensei being an S-ranked Shinobi with their own fame. But, ever since then, his thoughts had been scrambled, clashing with everything that he had believed for his entire, albeit short, 12 year long life.

He had been thinking much more lately, about _everything._ Before, he would've never thought about his team's future favoritism, about the idiocy of the Human Race's tendency to respect its ability to kill itself, about anything other than his future as a glorious shinobi. Where was their glory in war? In death? Many Veteran Shinobi found themselves thinking the same things, at least, those that had seen true war. Naruto wondered if Minato Namikaze ever thought such things. Ever pondered the futility of war, how useless it was.

Naruto was roused from his thoughts as the two seats to his right were suddenly occupied, Natsumi sitting to his immediate right, with Sasuke sitting to her right. Naruto cast his eyes over them, before sighing and returning his gaze to the ceiling. "Hello." Natsumi called out softly, smiling over at him. Naruto looked at her from the corner of his eye, before looking at the ceiling, tracing the patterns within it with his ringed eyes.

"Hello Natsumi, Sasuke." Naruto spoke, not looking at either of the girls, lost in his own world of thought. Sasuke looked over at him, before quickly looking away and looking at the door. Natsumi caught that, but didn't say anything, instead deciding to enjoy the serene silence that had captured her team.

"Are you two satisfied with the placements?" Naruto's voice broke the silence randomly, prompting Natsumi to raise a delicate red brow, and Sasuke to look at the boy from the corner of her eye. "Yes, I am." Sasuke grunted out in a very Uchiha-like manner, keeping her Ebony gaze trained on Naruto's form. "Yes, I am rather happy with the way things turned out, why do you ask Naruto?" Natsumi questioned, turning her head to look at the boy. Naruto met their gazes with his own, before sighing, bringing his left arm back from over the chair and fiddling with his thumbs. He looked down at them, and then turned his gaze to the two girls.

"It's nothing, don't worry about it alright?" Naruto told them with a soft smile on his face, causing a light dusting of red to appear on Sasuke's cheeks, and causing Natsumi's other brow to slowly raise, before both dropped when the door opened, Kushina strolling in with a brilliant smile on her face, her Violet eyes instantly locking onto Natsumi's sapphire eyes. "Team 7 with me!" At her call, Naruto raised his head and looked at her. The woman was wearing the standard Jounin outfit, though a black Katana sheath was on her back, her red hair cascading down her back as well. Naruto's observations were cut short when his team rose to his right, prompting him to rise as well.

-Line Break-

Team 7 sat assembled on the roof of the Academy, which Naruto quickly decided was a rather odd and inconvenient place to meet if it became a permanent one. He leaned on a railing while his team sat on the roof, Kushina standing before the Trio with a proud smile on her face and her hands balled into fists pressing into her hips. Naruto stared at her smile, watching the way it creaked upwards with pride, her eyes shining with the same emotion whenever they passed over Natsumi. He would've frowned, but it wouldn't do anything he decided. The favoritism that he knew would surface eventually was _already_ showing. He sighed, rubbing his forehead slowly. He was disappointed with the Hokage's decision of his team.

"Okay! Let's get some introducing out of the way! I'll start!" Kushina exclaimed loudly, boisterously jabbing her thumb at herself when she finished, cracking one eye open as she smiled cheekily. Naruto did not react, though Natsumi smiled and Sasuke cracked a smirk. "The Name's Kushina Uzumaki, though I'm sure you definitely knew that! My likes include Minato-kun, Natsumi-chan, and Ramen! I definitely hate perverts, especially a certain one, and anybody that would try to bring this world out of its peaceful state!" At her words, Naruto frowned. Where was there peace in this world? People still died to other people, died early. The fact that Shinobi existed at all was anything but peaceful. What use would soldiers be in a truly peaceful world?

"My Hobbies include training, and spending time with my family. My dreams, well they've already come true. Who's next?" Kushina finished with a pleasant smile, that made Naruto angry. How was she happy when the world was filled with people that she was supposed to hate? Her daughter was someone that was bringing the world out of a peaceful state, even if the innocent Natsumi didn't mean to. Then, Naruto frowned, disappointed. He himself was taking the next step to become a shinobi. This plunged Naruto into deep thinking.

Why _was_ he becoming a shinobi? He could've dropped out of the Academy at any time, yet he had stayed. Why? It clashed with everything he had been thinking of lately, everything he was beginning to believe in. His frown deepened. Why was he even taking the next step? He knew he wanted to bring peace, but was becoming a Shinobi the way to do that?

"And you?" Kushina's voice broke Naruto out of his musings, prompting the boy to lazily raise his head and stare at his team. "Huh? Oh, I'm next? Well, I suppose… My name is Naruto. I don't have a surname, so don't bother. My likes? I guess… I don't know, thinking? My dislikes. That's easy. I dislike hatred. War. Everything the Human Race has become so, so _deeply_ seeded into that it's hard for me to envision a world of peace. I don't really have any hobbies other than thinking. And my dream? I want to bring peace to this world. True peace, not this false imitation that it has set into." Naruto finished, his eyes shimmering with a fire that had not been alight within them for some time.

His team had grown silent at his words, and Kushina looked as if she was conflicted on something, and she seemed to look at him with something akin to… sadness? She looked like she was trying to say something, but she stopped. Shaking her head, the same smile found its way onto her face. "Well then, now that that's out of the way, meet me at Training Ground 7!" Suddenly, she exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing that she was a Shadow Clone the entire time.

-Line Break-

Kushina found herself feeling a little unnerved as Naruto's royal purple eyes piercingly gazed into her own violet irises. She had just started the bell test after giving her team a rundown of the rules and their goal, and after she had started the timer, she would be lying to you if she said she wasn't shocked to see Naruto just stand there, staring at her.

"You're not a smart one, are ya?" Kushina mocked, trying to get a rouse out of the curious genin-hopeful that didn't try and run, use whatever stealth he had, to make a plan. Instead, he frowned, crossed his arms, and just stood in front of her.

"On the contrary, Kushina-san, I believe I _am_ the smart one in this situation. You are a Jounin, on top of that you are an S-ranked Shinobi. No amount of attempted Stealth on my part will allow me to actually hide from you. No amount of planning will allow me to formulate a plan to beat you. This test is no doubt a mere facade, set to make us complete a hidden goal or requirement. Perhaps it is to simply impress our tutors and make them see our potential as Genin, and if that is the case, the best I can offer is to try and dismantle this false test and see it for what it really is." Naruto suddenly narrowed his eyes as he continued, his words succeeding in making Kushina uneasy.

"Actually, I'm beginning to believe that this test is merely being administered as a mere formality, just based on the placements. On one hand, we have an Uchiha Clan Head's Daughter on this team, no doubt giving special training and a potential prodigy like her brother Itachi. And on the other hand, we have the Daughter of you, an S-ranked Clan Head, but not only that, she is the Daughter of the Yondaime Hokage. No doubt she has been trained by you two, so you being her sensei, you would already know of her prowess. As her parents you wouldn't allow her to take these tests if she wasn't ready." Naruto's frown from before returned, slowly getting deeper and making darker trenches in his face as he continued.

"In reality, the only oddball in this team placement is me, but I suppose I placed low enough that I could have been given the Deadlast moniker, and in tradition I would be placed with the two highest students. No doubt Natsumi is one of them, and it's fairly easy to imagine Sasuke being the other." Naruto cracked a smirk, before suddenly plopping down with a loud, relaxed sigh on the ground, slowly easing into a lying position with his arms behind his head.

"It's not really a stretch to say we would pass this test even if we failed the main goal, is it Kushina-san? And, while yes I do see this as a way for you to get a grasp on your students' skill levels, you are already intimately aware of Natsumi's, and Sasuke's is fairly obvious based on her clan. And, well, to be truthful with you, there is nothing I offer to the table other than a decent Henge, a slow Kawarimi, and a pathetic Bunshin. Oh, and my eyes have swirls in them now." Naruto remarked, before closing his eyes and sighing, attempting to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Kushina stared at the only boy on her team, of which his gender was the least differing thing about him. He was the only one present with no surname, the only one present who no longer had parents, the only one present who had no formal shinobi training outside of the Academy. Not to mention, he was also the only one who seemingly refused to even try to accomplish the task of the test.

Another thing that unnerved Kushina was the boy's deliberate, and _accurate_ teardown and dissection of the team's placement and the effects it would cause. And, while Kushina would like to tell herself she would never be a Sensei who would show, let alone house, any favoritism towards any one student, she ultimately knew that if it came to saving her daughter, or saving the other two genin on her team, she would choose her daughter and let the other two die. And that thought itself ruined Kushina's perspective on her ability to teach the team, of which she was utterly confident of beforehand.

The blonde continued to lay on the grass, his arms nestled neatly underneath his head, and his left eye lazily cracked open to gaze at the sky. "Naruto," Kushina began, prompting the boy to wrestle his one eye's attention away from the clouds and onto her own violet eyes. "While I understand you aren't as far along in your training as the girls," Kushina decided those were the wrong words to use as soon as she saw the boy's chest fall quickly in a sigh, his eye roll back towards the sky, and his right hand untangle itself from underneath his head to pull a bang away from his _closed_ eye, making the action pointless.

"But that's the whole point of being taught under a Jounin Sensei! So, won't you please get up and attempt the test, if not for your Sensei, for your teammates?" Kushina urged, wishing to break the mindset of worthlessness the boy had seemingly put himself into. It was rather clear that the boy seemed to think little of himself in the Shinobi arts. The boy's jutsu surely couldn't be as bad as he thought they were.

Naruto cracked his eye open to gaze at her, curious as to what purpose she was trying to fill with her words of encouragement. He would've sighed, if he was older. Clearly, the woman was trying to make the boy believe he would receive enough training to, at least, put him on par with the others on his team, which, Naruto would believe, had they refused to learn until he caught up, and then allowed him to be granted a 6 month lead. Naruto was no longer prideful of himself, and had come to see reason that he learned Shinobi arts at a slightly below average pace, something which was blatantly obvious by the amounts of studying and practical practice he had to put into passing the Genin Exam, of which he passed barely. Come to think of it, Naruto wondered if the Hokage had specifically ordered his graduation out of pity. Or, perhaps, he had ordered his Graduation so he could place him on a team with his daughter and his good friend Fugaku's daughter, allowing Kushina, their sensei, to specially train the two girls under the false pretense that Naruto was slower, and pass him off to a subpar Jounin, potentially even Chunin instructor.

Naruto _did_ sigh as he got up, feeling his knees pop slightly and his back to crack as he stretched, a tired groan escaping his lips. Naruto cursed his thought process, which has actually made him feel _worthless._ Probably because the options he had presented himself didn't seem too far out there, maybe with the exception that he would receive a Chunin instructor within the next six months. Push it to 8 and he wasn't so sure.

"Uzumaki-sama," Naruto raised a brow in curiosity at the slight flinch he saw appear on Kushina's face at his even less formal title he called her by, "I know what you are doing. Trying to… encourage me to participate. Well, I suppose I can amuse you." With that, Naruto merely jogged into the woods, and plopped himself onto a branch of the tree closest to the clearing, allowing him to gaze at the woman, but which would actually provide him an opportunity to "help" either Natsumi or Sasuke when the pair no doubt made their move on the bells, either alone or together. While he waited, Naruto decided to ponder something.

Where would he live now that the Orphanage would no longer be legally required to house him?

It wasn't as if his team could fail this test, making him a Genin, and therefore a legal adult.

 _With Natsumi._

The Namikaze Heir was saddened by Naruto's words to her mother, and attempted to persuade herself that he was wrong. However, she was hard-pressed to prove his words wrong. In her head, she knew he was right, but her heart wanted him to be wrong. Surely, her mother of all people, would be fair with her team? Then, a thought broke Natsumi's others. Her mother trained her everyday after Dinner. That alone was favoritism. Her eyes got a little darker in sadness as she realized Sasuke also received said training, if the conversations between her mother and Sasuke's mother were to be believed. That brought another curious thought to Natsumi's mind, where did Naruto even live, if he had no parents?

Shaking her head, Natsumi decided she might as well finish this depressing train of thought. And, to do just that, Natsumi rushed into the clearing.

 _With Sasuke._

Sasuke did not hear Naruto's words, for she was too busy trying to find Natsumi. Surely, if the girls paired up, they could get the bells. And, even though she had to smother down a frown at the thought of pushing Naruto to his failure, her pride as an Uchiha and the need to prove herself to her Father helped her drown those thoughts. She ran around the ring of the forest, her eyes catching the sight of Naruto lazily swinging his leg from a tree by the clearing as she did so.

When she came around to where she thought she had seen Natsumi dash into the forest, she found herself staring at the back of the girl's redhead. Before she could say anything, the Namikaze Heir dashed into the clearing, prompting Sasuke to do the same.

The two girls exploded out of the forest and into the clearing, Natsumi's hand flying into a cross sign with 15 Shadow Clones puffing into existence around her and Kushina, which prompted her mother to grip her Katana by its sheathe and proceed to cut down all of the clones with speed and strength. Sasuke grabbed the real Natsumi's shoulder and pulled her back slightly while the clones distracted Kushina.

"Listen, I think you and me need to work together to get those bells." Sasuke began, staring into Natsumi's eyes intently. The Namikaze nodded her head, briefly thinking about Naruto, and almost went to talk to Sasuke about their third teammate, before he mother came flying out of a massive smoke cloud just as memories of a painful, blunt trauma death fluttered her mind. "DUCK!" Sasuke yelled, grabbing Natsumi and dropping the pair to the ground as Kushina's foot flew past them, however the woman remained planted in front of them.

Natsumi looked up to see her mother with her sword raised threateningly, only for a shroud of heat and light coursed quickly over her Mother's visage with Sasuke's body flying forward, fire spewing out of her mouth like a hose. Kushina growled out, swinging her sword quickly, water chakra spewing out of her mouth, and her sword forced it at the fire, negating it before it could burn her. Sasuke panted slightly while standing in front of Natsumi protectively. Natsumi's eyes widened, before she jumped up to Sasuke's side with her hands once more forming the cross seal, two clones popping into existence beside her.

"Sasuke, got another fire ball in ya?" One cloned signed to her with its back turned to Kushina, while the real Natsumi and the other clone kept Kushina busy with Taijutsu incorporating Kawarimi and more Kage Bunshin to allow the real Natsumi to remain in good physical condition. Sasuke nodded in confirmation, while the clone began to sign the plan to her. Nodding with a smirk, Sasuke jumped into the fray, Natsumi smirking and forming two more clones behind her, with the one from before joining her.

Kushina smirked as well. "Ah, backing off I see. Admirable, in this situation." Kushina cockily stated, swinging her sheathed Katana in her hand. Natsumi glared at her mother. Quickly, her and her three clones began to flash through hand signs. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" Natsumi and her clones shouted, while Sasuke jumped up behind them and released a massive fireball, larger than the one she had sent before.

Kushina's eyes widened, as the flames overtook her entire form. Quickly, she performed a Kawarimi, even as the fire continued and burned the forestry behind them, prompting another pop of smoke to appear, though dangerously closer to the fire than Kushina's had been. Appearing right where Kushina had been, was Naruto, who had substituted with a larger stick that had been blown off a tree by the scuffle between Kushina and Natsumi's clones.

Naruto looked around, acting surprised that he had ended up where he was, despite being the one who had to perform the substitution. Looking down, Naruto crouched and scooped up two small, metal balls in his hand that made little chime noises as he stood up, the two bells clanking together noisily, making everyone present raise their eyes. Kushina, because she did not believe the bells had fallen off of her waist, Sasuke, because she now worried about not graduating, as Naruto would surely choose Natsumi over her, who had been mean to him and bullied him. Natsumi worried because she did not realize that her and Sasuke's jutsu had been aimed at where Naruto.

Looking at them, and even jiggling his arm a little bit to make them chime, Naruto stared with an "O" shape forming his mouth. "Uhhhh… I guess uhhh…." Naruto merely stared at the twin bells in his hand. Kushina pushed past Sasuke and Natsumi, staring at Naruto. "How did you get those, Naruto?" Kushina questioned. Naruto looked at her, and went to answer, before Natsumi stepped forward. "Me and Sasuke executed that conjoined Jutsu to mask my third clone's kunai, and its speed was enhanced by the two Wind Jutsus I used, which propelled it forward, cutting the string on the bells before you had time to Kawarimi away. However, we did not know Naruto was in the tree behind you, and he Substituted with a large branch that had fallen on top of the bells after the fight between you and clones. I don't know how the wind jutsu didn't affect it, though…" Natsumi looked at the ground in thought at this.

Kushina nodded, before staring at Naruto. "Well then, Naruto, who will pass with you, and who will no longer be eligible for the Shinobi job?" Kushina questioned, staring at Naruto. The team passing relied on Naruto, though, unfortunately she knew, no matter what he said, the team would pass. Naruto looked at the bells in his hand, then back to his team.

Naruto personally believed that even asking the question was pointless, and from the look on Kushina's face, she believed so as well. Sasuke looked utterly devastated. Perhaps she thought he would choose Natsumi over her, had the rules 'set' by Kushina actually been true? He supposed that made sense, given her need as the Uchiha Clan Head's daughter to be worthy. And Natsumi on the other hand, seemed to, to some extent, know that no matter what, she was passing this test. Whether that was because she knew the team was bound to pass, or she belived her father would just make her a genin if Naruto chose Sasuke, Naruto did not know, or bother to figure out.

With a slight huff, and an exaggerated swing of his arm, Naruto tossed the bells to the two girls on his team. "They can pass. I'll find somethin' to do, so don't you worry about me being bored. Ja ne!" Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets, and with a mock two-fingered salute, turned around and began to lazily walk away, leaving the rest of Team 7 shocked. Kushina was even too shocked to say anything, watching the boy leave before telling him that he had actually passed.

Naruto however, merely walked onward, eyes gazing at the clouds as he walked back into the Village. Hmm, maybe he'd get a job as a waiter or something in one of the many Akimichi-owned restaurants? Or, perhaps he'd get a nice, elderly care-taking job? Probably not, as he needed food, and he needed it soon. The Akimichi Restaurants seemed better suited for him, considering employees received free meals.

Naruto smiled carelessly as he walked onward, and even hummed a little tune as he walked. Naruto passed a certain Jounin who was leaning up against the side of a bookstore, a new, limited edition orange book in his right hand, with his uncovered eye scanning the pages, before catching sight of the blonde hair which made him believe his Sensei had come to see him, prompting him to drop his book and stare, only to look on in disappointment as he saw the little Orphan with the weird eyes. Actually, this sight intrigued Kakashi, the Jounin who was reading his newest book.

If he remembered correctly, and he knew he did, it was tradition for passing teams to either immediately train together, or to have lunch with each other while the Sensei went to report that they had passed to the Hokage. This intrigued Kakashi for the mere fact that, by this little brat's mere presence, _alone,_ in the village, it implied that Natsumi's team had failed. Raising a brow in curiosity, Kakashi strode forward, eye still glued to his book, and eventually fell into stride with the blonde boy.

Naruto noticed Kakashi's presence, but didn't react to it at all, merely walking with his hands in his pockets, observing the businesses and market stalls they passed on their tranquil walk. The blonde knew the man wanted something from him, considering he had gotten up as soon as Naruto passed him, but didn't know quite what it was. He decided, that if it was important, the man would've asked by now, so he left it alone and continued to walk, even humming a little tune as he did so.

Eventually, Kakashi sighed, stuffing his book in his back pocket and pressing his hand to his brow ridge. "Do the youngsters of today not care if some random shinobi, not to mention stranger, walks up behind them and then follows them?" Kakashi questioned the blonde, who stopped and looked into the man's one eye with his swirled eyes, which Kakashi found intriguing as well, and personally believed they were a Dojutsu, though which one they were he did not know, which caused him to pass it off as weak, seeing as he, nor anyone else, knew what they were, or even what they did. It seemed, even the boy himself didn't know, and had just believed his eyes had changed for no reason.

"Well, Jounin-san, I happen to know that you are a Konoha shinobi, of rather high rank and reputation, given that on multiple occasions, I have seen you frequent the Namikaze household, and even have gone to Dinner with Yondaime-sama's family. So, unless you are going to tell me that I'm suddenly going to be assaulted, I don't believe your presence is of any concern for my well being." Naruto explained casually, causing Kakashi to sigh in exasperation.

"Well, I guess my reputation precedes me." Kakashi replied rather cockily, even tilting his head rapidly as if his head had to adjust to the ego boost he had just experienced, until Naruto chuckled and turned around, returning to his walk.

"Actually, Jounin-san, the _Hokage's_ reputation precedes even you, who is _not_ said Hokage." Naruto's cheeky reply caused Kakashi to deflate and cry a river of tears, before he jogged to catch up with the boy after rapidly wiping his one visible eye.

"Now, in all seriousness Jounin-san, I do believe you wanted something from me, no?" Naruto glanced up at the silver-haired man to his right, and began to ponder on exactly what it was he wanted. Perhaps Naruto had over exaggerated the time it would take to assign Naruto a separate teacher out of pity? Surely Kushina, or _someone_ had noticed how pathetically long it took Naruto to even _Kawarimi._ He gazed up at the man, who seemingly had one eye, considering he concealed the other. Perhaps this man no longer had a use in the field, and was being delegated Naruto as a student, out of equal pity from the Hokage? If that were the case, Naruto decided he would quit being a Shinobi, to preserve both of their dignities.

Kakashi nodded at Naruto's words, scratching the top of his head lightly. "Ahahah, well uhhh, I was wondering if your team passed the Genin Test?" Kakashi questioned, staring with his cycloptic eye at Naruto's dual swirls. Said blonde stared up at the Jounin, before smirking lightly, almost unnoticeable. "Well, Jounin-san, I do believe we would have all passed to be a team in the first place. Though, I must confess I had a rather hard time passing the Bunshin portion, and I am glad that Iruka-Sensei took pity on my current situation and passed me. Though, to be truthful, I almost wonder if it would've worked out better for me if he hadn't." Naruto admitted truthfully, thinking on his need to find a stable job so he could at least eat every day now.

Kakashi further sighed at his words, once more flailing his arms in annoyance. "Gahhhhh, you know what I mean! The real genin test, the one administered by your Jounin Sensei!" Kakashi muttered in exasperation, glaring with an annoyed gleam at the blonde who once more strode forward with no stop.

A lightbulb seemingly appeared over Naruto's head. "Ahhhh thaaaat. Well, to be honest with you, I don't think that question is really warranted by you, or anyone for that matter. I mean, let's be real here, Jounin-san, would the Hokage allow his daughter, or the daughter of one of his closest friends, the Uchiha Clan Head, to fail the test and have to retake the final year of the Academy? Not even that, would the _mother_ of one of her Genins allow the team to fail?" Naruto chuckled as he walked away from a far-eyed Kakashi, "Come on Jounin-san, look underneath the underneath, right?" With that, Naruto disappeared into the crowd of Konoha Citizens, a bewildered Kakashi left in his wake.


	4. Chapter 4

It had been a short two weeks since Naruto and the rest of Team 7 had passed Kushina's genin test, with only Sasuke and Natsumi seeming to gain positive emotions out of the ordeal, while Naruto merely shrugged his shoulders with the corners of his mouth pulled inwards slightly. Naruto's living arrangement was… not really an arrangement at all really.

He had taken to life on the streets rather well actually. With not a single clue as to what he would do, he returned to the Orphanage, initially hoping to be allowed to stay until he had a stable life and actual shelter, most likely in the form of an apartment, however he was disappointed as, upon arrival and after explaining his situation, the Orphanage workers sadly shook their head and said they could not allow him to do that. However, they did allow him to keep the blanket and pillow he had used before, as well as offering him the ability to return weekly to wash his laundry. Naruto smiled happily at the lady who offered this to him and shook her hand with a hearty grip.

Though, as he exited with a large comforter and pillow in hand, he then realized he had nowhere to actually _put_ the items, let alone sleep in/on, whicher word was right. So, Naruto wandered around town, with many raising a brow or two at what was in his hands, but not saying anything. Naruto suspected they knew what his situation was by the look of his slightly ragged clothing, a simple black shirt with gray shorts and shinobi sandals, and the bundle of bedding he was carrying. Naruto also suspected that they were purposefully avoiding helping him, though he was keen to point out to himself that it was almost a tradition to pass by the homeless, as few as they were, that riddled Konoha's markets. Which, at the thought, a lightbulb went off in his head, making the blonde smile softly and nod his head.

There had to be a reason the Homeless gathered primarily around the market section of Konoha's layout, and he assumed it had to do with the businesses there. Open stalls, with fresh food hanging out in the open. He wasn't saying they were stealing, though he wasn't going to say that a tomato or two falling off a stand hurt anybody.

Thankfully, two days later Naruto was able to find employment in an Akimichi BBQ restaurant as a waiter, a job which Naruto found that he enjoyed. Whether it was simply taking a compliment, or even the "Thank you" he received on daily basis, Naruto was pleased. Not to mention his ability to balance multiple things on his arms or in his hands increased marginally. And, since the restaurant was Shinobi-owned, Naruto wasn't forced to choose between his Shinobi Career, and his job there, with his managers basically just filling in time for employees whenever available. Members of the Akimichi Clan made up a large portion of the work force, and with the numerous missions they go on, the restaurants they worked in had to be able to accommodate, which was why numerous civilians had worked in the Akimichi chains as well.

Initially, Naruto wasn't going to be able to get a job, since he was a shinobi and they expected that the cash flow would be enough for him. However, after explaining his situation, _not to mention Kushina had dropped a metaphorical bomb on him when she explained that she wouldn't start even D-rank missions until two months of training,_ the Akimichi who hired him wiped a tear and shook his hand, a firm grip and a toothy grin welcoming Naruto to the Akimichi work force, with an above minimum wage salary with tips given to him as well. **(I'm not even going to bother mentioning money amounts, even when Naruto is purchasing or selling something at any point, because personally as both a reader and a writer, I feel that a foreign currency doesn't really hold any meaning in a story that's roots or home country don't use said currency)**

So, within the two weeks he had worked, Naruto had managed to get enough money to eat for about a month and ½ if he paced his purchases and rationed food, though his main way to eat right now was the meal the Akimichi's gave him before each shift he worked, which was a 4-10pm shift every day, with his daily training sessions being 7am-2pm every day. Naruto found that he settled into routine fairly easily and comfortably.

During his work shifts, Naruto had met a wide array of people, one of which he saw nearly every day.

Dressed in a long tan overcoat which covered a fishnet shirt and an orange skirt, with spiky purple hair, the bangs of which were held up by a Konoha Head Band, was Anko Mitarashi, Dango Lover and Snake Summoner. Naruto had learned quickly that, while the BBQ Stand hosted by the Akimichi wasn't explicitly meant a ' _Dango Stand'_ as Anko always referred to it as, the woman frequented it almost daily simply to get an order of Dango, and to speak to the Manager Akimichi woman who worked there every day without fail, no longer wanting to live the Shinobi life.

Through watching the other customers eyes narrow, or widen, at her entrance to the restaurant, as well as listening to the whispered mutterings as he neared them with a plastic smile and a plate full of food held on his left shoulder, Naruto learned that she was somewhat of a pariah due to her connection with the traitorous snake sennin, Orochimaru. She had been his apprentice, was Naruto's inferred hypothesis.

Naruto passed off this hypothesis and decided not to act on it, or the whispers he heard about her as he worked his shifts, preferring to stay out of other's business and instead focus on making enough money to eat. Eventually however, Anko did not come for three days, which had affected his manager, if her constant checking of the front door for something was to be taken into account. After the third day, however, Anko did stroll in, rather slowly and with an odd gait, before slumping into a bar stool and leaning her head down onto her arms.

Unfortunately for Anko it seemed, the manager had not arrived to work that day, and Naruto believed it was for her sister's baby delivery, based on the excited rambling from his Akimichi co-workers. Seeing the purple-haired woman slumped forward on the bar stool, without ordering her daily dango, almost worried the young blonde genin. Whilst cleaning the bar with a white rag, Naruto happened to pass by the woman, rag in hand going round and round in circles by her. The pupil-less eyes followed his movements, before suddenly dashing up to meet his eyes. Naruto could see it within them. Swirling dangerously.

She was scared. Fearful. Saddened. Naruto wondered if it was a stretch to say that she was depressed. Deciding it was because the manager wasn't here for Anko to talk to, considering the woman seemed to have waited… was it half an hour now?, Naruto decided to talk to her. "You'll have to excuse me miss, but I'd like to inform you that the manager ChoCho isn't here today. I believe her sister is delivering her baby as we speak." Naruto informed her, meeting her eyes while he spoke, before dropping them back to the rag and continuing cleaning the bar.

After a few seconds, Anko leaned forward quickly and grabbed his sleeve. Naruto turned to look at her, though she seemed skittish almost. Naruto thought that was odd, considering her rather blazen attitude, not to mention attire… "Yes miss?" Naruto questioned, looking at her. "Uhh-uhm, c-can I…" She looked down, pondering something, before Naruto saw her shake her head and then raise her eyes to him, a determined-almost light in her eyes. "Can I have an order of sake?" Anko questioned the boy.

Looking at her, Naruto ignored her and looked back at his rag as Anko's arm dropped, folding it up neatly and placing it behind him, right where the sake was placed, before taking two steps towards Anko, interlocking his fingers together, and leaning onto the bar with his elbows, staring into her eyes. Anko found that the troubles of her life seemed to fade away, swirling down into the pupil of his eye, encouraged by the swirls within his sclera.

"Anko-san," Anko perked up at this, having lost her thoughts within the depths of his violet eyes, "I don't believe it would be a good idea for you to drink right now." Naruto explained, staring into her eyes, noting the disheveled and rugged look of her hair that he had missed before. She then narrowed her eyes and furrowed her brows angrily.

"What! It doesn't matter what you think, I'm a paying customer, and you will bring out a suite of sake for me to drown down!" Anko growled at him, gritting her teeth and flashing them, a spark of chakra erupting around her body in anger. The chakra spike had irritated the curse mark on the back of her shoulder, causing her to sharply intake some air and hastily grip her shoulder, rubbing it.

Naruto caught this action, but didn't react to it, simply pouring a glass of sake, and returning to standing in front of Anko, swirling the glass in his hand. "Anko-san," his calling of her name caused the woman to remove her hand from her shoulder and look at him, her eyes glancing down at the shot in his hand. "Thank yo-" Naruto pulled the glass back from her nabbing hand and took a sip for himself, sighing after he drank it.

Anko growled at this. Leaning forward angrily, she snarled at him. "Listen kid, I get it that you might not like me because of my teaching under Orochimaru, but I'm rather good friends with ChoCho, and if you don't-" "I am aware of both your friendship with ChoCho and your apprenticeship under Orochimaru, and frankly, Anko-san, I care about neither of them." His words, while sounding rude, shocked Anko and she listened to him, leaning back slowly and sitting down with widened, if suspicious, eyes. "Then, why won't you give me my drink?" Anko asked, still a little angry that she wasn't getting what she wanted.

Swirling the drink, Naruto's own swirls watching the liquid, he then replied, "Well it's rather simple really. I can tell you're sad. Depressed even. It's your eyes that are telling me this, as well as your posture and actions. You didn't burst into her brazenly calling out to ChoCho-san, your chest waving everywhere as you deliberately allow the overcoat you wear to fall a little past your shoulders, allowing them more exposure for people to look at while you pretend to care, nor did you immediately order Dango. You also slumped forward on the bar and even held back tears in the slight wetness to your eyes is anything to go by. Really, all I'm leading to is," With a flourish, Naruto drank the rest of the drink and slammed it down behind him, shaking his head before leaning forward and staring into Anko's surprised eyes, "Drinking won't help you solve whatever issues you're having Anko-san, and while you might think they will now, I think we both know they won't. And, without ChoCho here to listen to and comfort you, I think I can take the reigns this once and help out a fellow shinobi with her struggles, don't you think?"

Naruto watched as his words sunk in, watching the way Anko's face randomly constricted and her skin was pulled, before her eyes narrowed in obvious suspicion. "Oh yea? And what struggles would you happen to be going through squirt? Girl troubles? Sensei not letting ya' take a C-rank mission? Parents not buying you that kunai set you want?" Anko mocked, her words doing nothing to falter Naruto's gaze, before the blonde sighed, untangling his hands and draping one down the left side of his face, Anko noting that the violet swirls in his eye extended past the point where one couldn't see the eye anymore, stretching behind his eye.

"Well, Anko-san, none of those are true. To begin, my parents were murdered." At his words, Anko's eyes widened and she went to apologize, though Naruto continued, "And I almost was too. Some crazed maniac had just wandered in, waving a knife everywhere while my parents and one of their friends backed away in horror. I was asleep at the time. I woke up to screams. When I came out, three bodies littered the floor of my house, and I passed out in shock. When I came to, I could only see the moon, through a window. The murdered had propped me up, my head leaned back and the knife dripping blood onto my forehead. Real freaky dude, I tell ya."

Naruto sighed, rubbing his forehead and appearing far older than he was. "I had forgotten even who I was, or what I was doing. All I remember is that I saw the moon. It almost seemed… comforting. Like I had _known_ the moon." Shaking his head and chuckling, Naruto looked back up at Anko. "Anyway, before I knew it, I was in a crater. I don't know how it happened, but the Hokage seems to think it's related to these swirls I've got in my eyes now," Naruto lazily pointed a finger at his eyes, "Though, the guy he was supposed to call to come look at my eyes hasn't arrived within a whole _year_ so uhhh… well I don't think that's happenin' any time soon. Regardless, I found myself orphaned with no home to return to within a single night. Not to mention, I don't have my dazzlingly gorgeous blue eyes anymore, instead I've got these creepy purple eyes that make me look crazy all the time since they've got rings in em'." Naruto's exaggerated words made Anko chuckle slightly, her hand daintily raising to cover her mouth as she giggled.

"And well, a year later I graduated the Academy and got placed with the Hokage's daughter and the Uchiha Clan Head daughter. And you know what?" Naruto looked at Anko, wondering if he should be telling some random woman potentially twice his age his problems, before shaking his head with a grin and dropping it. "I was disappointed with the Hokage's team placements. Could you imagine that? Disappointed with the two strongest genin and an S-rank Kunoichi, the Hokage's Wife and Uzumaki Clan Head not to mention, as a Sensei. But, I suppose it was because I felt that I didn't fit with them. It wasn't because I wasn't good enough, but I _knew, I just knew,_ that I wouldn't be taught properly. The signs of favoritism don't even have to be looked for I mean, my Sensei is the fuckin' _mother_ of my teammate. And I know damn well that the Uchiha Clan Head won't just let his daughter get trained by some Jounin, even if she is S-ranked. So boom, my two teammates are getting extra training even though they were both already _**leagues**_ ahead of me in the Shinobi arts." Naruto chuckled, slumping down onto the bar and looking down.

After a long 2 minutes of silence, Naruto looked back up. "Wanna know somethin' Anko?" The woman nodded softly, staring… was that attempted comfort he saw in her eyes? At him. "It's pretty strange to see a fresh genin working a civilian job, no?" Naruto watched as Anko pondered it, tapping her chin. "Actually… yea it does seem kinda weird. Why _are_ you working?" Anko questioned, staring at him curiously, awaiting an answer. Naruto smirked, why he was was a mystery to him, considering he shouldn't be smirking for having _more_ issues.

"Well, as you know, once you've got that headband," Naruto nodded his head, indicating the Konoha Head Band around Anko's head, "You're a legal adult. But what you probably don't know is that legal adults can't be housed within Orphanages anymore. And, I can't work at my age unless I've got a headband like that. Which means I was double-fucked, because I couldn't work to save up money to buy a place or even _food_ before I was kicked out of the orphanage." Naruto watched as tears nearly came to Anko's eyes, and the woman attempted to lean forward to hug him, but Naruto placed his hand on her collarbone, softly pushing her away. F

Seeing her questioning look, Naruto smiled softly at her, shaking his head. "You don't have to try and comfort me Anko. I just told you my problems so that you wouldn't feel like it's only happening to you. I know, at least for me," Naruto turned around and leaned his elbows on the bar, no longer looking at Anko, "Knowing someone else also has it rough helps me." Anko smiled, and heard the little squeak the bar stool made as she stood up, as well as the loud footsteps she took out, indicating that she had her brazen attitude back. Though, Anko didn't see Naruto casually wipe away a bit of dirt under his eye and look at the little moistness that had followed his finger, almost as if it didn't belong there.


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto hummed lowly to himself as he sat with his legs curled, his knees pressing into the dirt in front of a white fence, his hands hidden within yellow gloves plastered with little specks of dirt that littered the surface, falling off and being added to as his hands dug into the earthy soil beneath him, gripping onto small tangles of roots and pulling them out, careful to not disturb the larger, wanted roots nestled around them.

Yes, Naruto was pulling weeds. "Oi! What're you doing!?" A feminine voice snarled to his far right. Naruto continued pulling the weeds beneath him, still happily humming away. "Don't yell at me, what're you doing!?" Another feminine voice yelled to his right, causing Naruto to close his eyes and sigh, his hum stopping completely. Yes, Team 7 was completing their 4th D-ranked mission, significantly behind teams such as Team 8, who had completed 22 D-ranks, and Team 10 with 23. Naruto of course did not mind, knowing that the 2 month period Kushina had taken to exclusively training her team was the reason for this difference in mission counts.

However, what Naruto did care about was the pay. So far, with only 4 missions, he had made about 1.5x more than he would've in 4 days of working at the restaurant. Putting those two values together nearly tripled his income. Naruto speculated that, within a month he would be able to afford a down payment on an apartment and six months rent paid in advance. This thought made Naruto smile happily. No longer would he leave work to find himself sitting in an alley a block away. However, he also wouldn't be able to hear the stories of the homeless, both Shinobi and Civilian, and no longer would he be able to see them smile when he would bring them portions of dinners he was given from ChoCho for them to eat.

Naruto grunted as a piece of dirt managed to hit his right shoulder, prompting the boy to lazily cast his head over towards the pair of girls that were viciously forcing their fingers into the dirt and forcefully pulling the roots out. Naruto sighed and shook his head, looking down to watch his own, slower and more careful movements, which eliminated any possibility that the plants being weeded would be affected by said action. Regardless, Naruto wasn't the one paying for such reckless actions, and decided to not open his mouth.

A frail old lady nodded happily an hour later, observing how the weeds surrounding her beautiful roses had been pulled properly, doting on Naruto about his "extremely neat and near-perfectly pulled weeds". Naruto laughed heartily, rubbing the back of his head while the woman expressed how exquisite his actions were, deciding to pay him extra for his good work, causing Sasuke and Natsumi to groan quietly. Their soil had been hastily packed in and roughly thrown back where it was, whereas Naruto's looked no different than it did when they arrived.

"Well, thank you so much for pulling these weeds for me youngsters! I just can't get

down low enough these days, ha ha." The woman said as she turned around, entering her house once more, bidding the team goodbye.

"Alright good job Team 7. Mission: Pulling Weeds is complete!" Kushina shouted happily, causing Naruto to clap lightly while the other two girls merely deadpanned at Kushina. Sweatdropping at her team's attitude, she then turned around and began leading them back to the Hokage Tower.

Naruto smiled serenely as he and his casually walked throughout Konoha, observing the civilians as they passed, all of whom smiled happily to Kushina and his teammates. Meanwhile Natsumi and Sasuke conversed about things that Naruto could only ponder about, considering they almost never included him in their conversations.

As they walked, Naruto noticed a similar face, Gijin Akimichi, a fellow Coworker. "Ah Naruto! How's it goin' buddy!" Gijin announced loudly as he exited a Doughnut shop that Team 7 had passed, prompting Naruto's team to turn around to face the Akimichi.

"Ah hello Gijin-kun. My day is going well, me and my team are heading to the Hokage's office to finish a mission. How is it going for you today?" Naruto questioned politely, soft-voiced and soft-eyed. Gijin smiled with his eyes closed, the corners of his mouth reaching the corners of his eyes while he held a glazed doughnut in his left hand. "Ahahaha, everything's going great for me Naruto! When do you work on Saturday?" Gijin questioned, staring at Naruto curiously.

Naruto sighed in an exasperated manner. "ChoCho has me working an extra 2 hours, so I'll get off at midnight." Naruto explained, staring up at the older, not to mention wider male, with an exasperated expression, his right arm coming up to drag along his face.

Gijin laughed heartily, taking a large bite out of his doughnut and throwing his arm onto Naruto's shoulder. "Ah don't worry Naruto, ChoCho's probably gonna pay you time and a half. We all sympathize with your situation. How long do you think it'll be before you can be stable now that you're taking D-ranks with your team?" Gijin questioned with genuine concern in his eyes that Naruto found he liked seeing.

"Ohhh… around a month I think. If ChoCho keeps giving me extra hours I might be able to do it in around 2 weeks or so." Naruto replied proudly, his chest puffing up slightly. Gijin's smile returned, perhaps even wider, before he pat Naruto's back and finished his Doughnut. "That's incredible Naruto! We'll be sure to have a celebration at your new dig, ya?" Gijin replied, patting Naruto's back once more after the blonde nodded, before waving and walking away.

Shaking his head with a smile, Naruto turned around to face the curious faces of his team. Ignoring them, deciding that if they had a question they would ask, Naruto looked to Kushina. "You didn't have to wait for me Sensei, just a conversation with a Coworker, you know." Naruto waved her off, seeing as he had held up the team. Kushina nodded her head, before Sasuke narrowed her eyes at Naruto.

"Wouldn't we be your co workers Naruto?" Sasuke interrogated him, a dangerous gleam in her eyes for reasons Naruto decided he wouldn't question. Looking at her, Naruto shook his head. "Well, I _guess_ you would, but I've been working at the Akimichi BBQ bar since we became a team. Not everybody's got a house to go home to after training ends, Sasuke-san." Naruto chided, almost as if he was the girl's mother. This caused Kushina's eyes to widen.

"Wait, Naruto-kun, do you not have a home?" After seeing the boy shake his head, her eyes widened once more. "Won't the orphanage let you stay there? You're not even 15!" Kushina exclaimed, now deeply bothered by her students situation. Naruto smirked and furrowed his brows.

"No, of course not Sensei! The Orphanage can only help minors, and as soon as he passed your test, we became adults! I walked away from the bell test a homeless guy, and still am. Thankfully I got a job at the BBQ Bar, otherwise I don't know how I'd be able to eat." Naruto said with a smile that Natsumi decided shouldn't be on his face as he spoke of such things.

Kushina's face exploded into worry. "Well Naruto, you can stay with us! I'm sure Minato wouldn't mind, and you wouldn't either, right Natsumi?" Kushina questioned her daughter with a glare and tone that said "Your only answer is yes." Natsumi nodded quickly, with sincerity in her eyes. "Of course. I'd be happy to help you Naruto!" Natsumi exclaimed happily. Sasuke stepped forward, staring at Naruto. "My family can help you too, Naruto." Sasuke offered cooly, though they all looked at Naruto as he smiled and shook his head.

"Ahhhahh no nooo. I can't bear to be a burden. Besides, I'll be able to afford an apartment in about a month as you heard me tell Gijin-kun. If I needed the help, I would've asked, don't worry. I appreciate that all of you would be willing to help me, but I was raised with a mentality of self-reliance." His words had been a lie. His parents had never raised him with something, quite the opposite in fact. They had set examples of receiving gifts and then thanking the other with something of equal value. However, Naruto had no longer wanted to feel like a burden, as he had already began to feel as Kushina had to take time away from advancing Natsumi and Sasuke's teaching to ensure that Naruto understood the concepts well enough.

To be truthful, Naruto decided that, while he liked the people on his team, he hated being on their team at the same time. He had underestimated just how much faster the two girls were at picking things up than he was. Kushina had attempted to teach the pair water walking, simply assuming Sasuke knew tree walking since Natsumi knew, and expecting Naruto to know as well. When she mentioned that the technique was very similar to the tree walking exercise, Naruto stayed silent, preferring to not hinder the girl's ability to learn the shinobi arts by forcing Kushina to get him caught up to speed.

Whereas the girls were able to stay on the water for around 15-30 seconds their first attempt, Naruto waded into the water and didn't even stick to the water's surface. Whereas the girls were able to master the technique within a week, Naruto still could not stick to the water's surface within that same week. Naruto pretended not to care about his inability as a shinobi, nor did he show how much it had hurt him that Sasuke groaned and complained to Natsumi that they had to wait, Natsumi voicing her agreement, stating that "Others are slower than us, Sasuke-chan." Their words stung, though Naruto took the pain with a serene smile on his face and calm eyes, even when his Sensei of all people seemed frustrated with his progress, eventually giving in and taking the girls to a separate clearing to teach them more advanced techniques that Naruto clearly wasn't ready for.

When Naruto had watched their backs fade into the forest, he sighed, sitting down and slumping forward, his elbows on his thighs and his hands balled into fists that held up his head, pressing into his jaw while he closed his eyes and listened to the soft waves of the river. He did not notice that he had been sitting on the water as he did this.

Line Break

 _Nagato, no longer Pein in his slumber, stared at the man that sat across from him, the only similarity between the pair being the Rings within their eyes. Nagato brought his left knee up, his foot resting on the eternal black floor that made up what was apparently his mind, and rested his left arm on it, leaning back slightly. The man across mirrored his posture, and looked down between his legs._

 _Nagato had come to treasure the little talks he had with the man across from him every time he slept. While he did not know it, his outlook and mentality was slowing shifting due to the man's presence within his mental space._

 _The man, he had come to know as both "Naruto" and "Hagoromo" as he had been told his names were/was, raised his head, the odd combination of spiky blonde and tan hair falling slightly as he did so, the wrinkles of his face sagging as well. "Hello Nagato."the man greeted with a slight smile. "Likewise. What should I call you today?" Nagato began as he always did. The man brought a hand up to rub his chin, before looking at Nagato._

" _Hagoromo. *Sigh* it seems he has not been transitioning well." Now-named Hagoromo answered Nagato, looking down sadly. Nagato nodded his head. The man had been referring to his so-called 'transmigrant', whose life had apparently been flipped completely upside down when Hagoromo began to merge, fuse, take over? Whatever the proper term was, with him. Not only had he lost his parents, something that Nagato could sympathize with, but he had also been questioning everything he did or noticed, something Nagato could not sympathize with. Unfortunately, it seemed that the boy, despite supposedly holding the Rinnegan, a fact that made Nagato believe that Hagoromo/Naruto was a figment of his imagination since he had heard of no other Rinnegan holders, was struggling to learn the Shinobi Arts due to his currently conflicted mindset. What confused Hagoromo was that the boy would pick up the Shinobi Arts when he unconsciously performed them, but until that point if he tried to learn them he failed to do so, making Hagoromo believe that the mental barrier that was capping the boy's potential was rather potent._

 _Hagoromo often questioned Nagato, wondering if he should make himself known to the boy and hopefully straighten quite a few things out, but Nagato also told him it was his decision, which always stalled the man's thoughts on presenting himself to, well, himself in a sense. The two, despite being the same person, had two drastically different backgrounds and stories to tell, and despite sharing similar mindsets, Hagoromo questioned whether or not his will was simply overcoming the weaker, less-developed will of Naruto, forcing the boy to begin adapting his mentality and belief._

 _However, Hagoromo also expressed that he believed that the clash between wills had also been causing the boys mentality to churn and twist, making it different than Hagoromo's. Perhaps it was age, the man had grunted out once after a sigh._

" _Has his situation gotten any better?" Nagato questioned, referring to the boy's current homelessness and day-to-day livelihood. Shaking his head in a negative, Hagoromo elaborated, "He still has no home to return to, though he believes he will have enough money to within a month or so. Despite being offered help by multiple people, including his team and an entire clan, he refuses the help, lying to them about an upbringing that he didn't experience. The boy thinks of himself as a burden, and has even begun to lie to his sensei about understanding concepts just so that his teammates can move on and learn new things. The boy is selfless, to an almost dangerous extent. You know," the man chuckled slightly, "he even pondered on whether or not getting a home for himself was a good idea, knowing he would miss the stories that the homeless tell him before he sleeps, or that he would make them feel inadequate. The boy has trouble feeding himself, and he still worries about others more than himself." Hagoromo stated with an exasperated grin. Nagato nodded his head. Despite the boy's troubles, he seemed to be growing into quite the admirable man._

" _Has anyone discovered the eyes he holds?" Nagato had been meaning to ask the question for a while, feeling a need to know whether or not Hagoromo, or the boy he spoke of, were real. It had been troubling him for quite a long time._

 _Looking up, Hagoromo's swirls swinging in sync with Nagato's own, the older man shook his head and looked down with a downcast shadow forming on his face. "No. The boy himself believes his eyes are merely a reminder of his parents own death, believing that his world had been skewed to the point that even his eyes are twisted. The boy is miserable and he doesn't even know it." Hagoromo replied, making Nagato nod his head, before Hagoromo said something that caused Nagato's eyes to widen slightly._

" _Gahhh, the Hokage said he'd call in an expert to check the eyes, but he hasn't arrived in Konoha in over a year and the boy believes that the Hokage has completely forgotten about him. The boy, in general, doesn't seem to care about himself, which is admirable to a degree." Hagoromo stated off-handedly, meanwhile Nagato began to wonder if there was more to his 'dreams' than he had first believed._


	6. Chapter 6

**death444: "** **Naruto is so weak in this story, can't read it sorry ;(** "

 **Phoenix has** **284,648** **views and I hate it. It's really bad. If Peace had that kind of traction I'd be much happier about what at least 100,000 people have seen.**

 **And then stories like Medic have just 31 less followers than that with almost a 4th of the views. I don't understand what people like about these stories.**

 **Oh, wait, these stories have Naruto's that have some form of extreme power. Though, I personally believe Medic has a pairing which is rare, which is exactly why I wrote it in the first place.**

 **Whereas Control has only 63 followers and almost 4k views. I thought that premise was such an incredible idea but the poor traction absolutely killed it for me.**

 **Often times, as a reader, I find that certain things an author does kills fics for me, so I write stories that are separate from those, with Peace being the biggest example of such.**

 **For those wanting more Medic, I can't guarantee it. I also can't guarantee that those reading Peace will like the direction I am taking it in. But, regardless, I would like to inform you that are reading it that the story is going to be picking up now. To prevent people such as death444 leaving too early. (he left right before it started to pick up, how unfortunate).**

 **Oh, it has also just come to my attention that in Chapter 1 I had spoke of Naruto living in an apartment due to Minato telling him not to, but I didn't really leverage anything off of him having an apartment, and have leveraged heavily on him being homeless, so I will not be correcting myself, nor will I be going back to fix it since it is only mentioned once and doesn't change that chapter at all. And considering none of the old, or even new readers have mentioned it to me, I think that's reasonable.**

The 6 Paths of Pein's eyes opened in sync, their bodies surging forward in sync, before standing up, in sync as well. Looking around, the Deva path stepped forward, 6 pairs of eyes locking onto the Blue-Haired woman who had entered the room after noting the surge of chakra that meant Nagato had awakened his paths. "Konan," The Deva path spoke, Yahiko's voice sounding eerily urgent, something which Konan disliked hearing, because it usually meant that something was bothering Nagato. "Yes, Pein-sama." Konan replied emotionlessly, the tone of her voice not changing despite the slight worry that had begun to plague her thoughts within seconds.

"It has come to my attention that there may be another Rinnegan bearer," at the words of Yahiko's body, Konan's eyes widened considerably. Someone else could wield the eyes that had made Nagato a god? The eyes that had kept Yahiko 'alive'? The same eyes that, Konan's eyes narrowed, drew Tobi/Madara to them, drawing Nagato into this unrealistic dream of peace through oppression of the real world. "What would you like me to do?" Konan replied, knowing that Pein would only bring it up to her if the situation required her.

The Deva path stared at her, the man controlling it obviously contemplating his plans regarding the topic. "Do not inform Tobi. Or the rest of the Akatsuki." His words threw Konan for a loop, spiking thoughts on why the man on the other end would tell her such a thing. Surely, he wasn't beginning to question Tobi's trustfulness, was he? She hoped so.

"You will travel to Konoha with my paths. That is where the boy is said to live. I wish to see with my own eyes if he is real. From there, I am unsure. Do not wear the Akatsuki cloak either, and stay out of trouble or suspicion. I believe that the Toad Sennin has become interested in our organization, and if he is in Konoha, he will recognize the pattern. He might have even told the Hokage. Do not interact with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki either." Pein informed her, and as his orders ended, the paths began to move in sync, going to exit the room, before Konan stopped him.

"Doesn't Tobi want us t-" "We will worry about Tobi's plans later. The potential of another Rinnegan Bearer is more important as of late, and I would like to be in Konoha during a time of peace before chaos breaks loose." Pein interrupted her, not wanting to think on

She wondered what another Rinnegan bearer would mean for Akatsuki, and especially what it would mean for Nagato.

-Line Break-

"I'll take one Full Rack of Ribs glazed with Honey Sauce and a side of fries please." "And I'll take a Half Rack with the specialty sauce and a side of salad please." A couple ordered, prompting Naruto to write down their orders on the piece of paper in his hand. "Certainly. I'll get this to our kitchen and get this out as fast I can for you. I'll take your menus." Naruto replied happily, a chip tone in his voice and a smile cracking his face as he extended his hand and grabbed the menus from the pair, turning around and walking away.

Reaching the widow between the Kitchen and the Service Den, Naruto placed the orders on the Kitchen's side of the window and called out the orders. "I need a Full Rack with Honey, A Half Rack with the Special, a Salad, and Fries please!" Naruto called out loudly. He received a loud grunt of acknowledgement, causing the boy to turn around and walk towards the front of the store, pulling out a white rag and cleaning the bar of a few crumbs and some spilled alcohol from customers that had left 2 minutes ago.

"Oi Naruto! We got newcomers to Table 18, that's your's!" Called ChoCho, her head peeking around a corner that separated the Shinobi Section of the restaurant from the family friendly Civilian Section. "No problem Cho! Be there in a minute!" Naruto called back, picking up the pace of his cleaning before throwing the rag into a pocket on his apron, the black cloth extending out slightly, though not noticeably.

Briskly walking around the corner and fishing out a pen and pad out of his same apron, Naruto flashed a smile at the 3-person Family, a Husband, Wife, and Kid that was sitting at Table 18, who also smiled at him.

"Hello Folks! Ever been ta' the Akimichi BBQ before?" Naruto began, leaning down slightly and patting the little girl's head, the parents smiling at his action. "Yep we have." The wife responded, looking at her menu, right at the beverages, while the father question the daughter on what she wanted.

Looking to the obviously more-ready woman, Naruto readied his pen. "I'll take a-aaaaaaaa, ah yes, a" the woman pointed her finger on the menu, despite Naruto not being able to even see what she was pointing at from his angle, "Cherry Lemonade please." Naruto nodded, writing down her drink, before turning to the father. "And for you?" Naruto questioned, prompting the man to look up, adjust his glasses, and, embarrassed, rub the back of his head and look at the menu. "Uhhhhh, oh right, I'll just take a water please. And a chocolate milk for her please." The man answered. Naruto smiled and went to reply, before an ANBU puffed into existence besides him.

"Genin Naruto! Hokage-sama has ordered your presence in his office now!" The ANBU ordered, before poofing away. Nodding his head at the ANBU who was gone anyway, Naruto returned to the couple. "I'll make sure you get your drinks right away. I'll also send a new waiter your way to make sure you still get service. I apologize for this inconvenience." Naruto stated, turning around and lightly jogging over to ChoCho.

"ChoCho, just got a call to be at the Hokage's office, can you get someone to cover for me?" Seeing her nod, Naruto handed her his pad. "Here's Table 18's drinks." Naruto told her, before running out of the restaurant.

-Line Break-

Pushing open the door to the Hokage's office, Naruto was greeted with not only the Hokage waiting for him, but his whole team, as well as the same gray-haired man he had toyed with after passing his genin test. Said man eye-smiled as he entered the room.

"Ah Naruto, we were waiting for you." The Hokage announced with a smile on his face. The Jounin standing beside him deepened his eye-smile and chuckled. "Whatcha' cookin?" He joked, nodding his head to the black apron around Naruto's waist, his red tie hanging behind it, his blonde hair pulled back. "Not cooking actually, serving." Naruto replied just as cheeky as the man had been.

Kushina looked troubled when she saw his work attire, but did not say anything. "Alright Team 7, I called you here today for a mission. An important one." The Yondaime began, leaning forward and lacing his fingers over his face, staring with stern eyes at Naruto's team.

"Earlier today we received a messenger bird from Kumo. Your team is being sent to Kumo to act as Ambassadors for a term of 3 months. The Chunin Exams will take place after the second month, and will be happening in Kumo, so you will be expected to participate in those as well." Signalling Kakashi with his hand, the Jounin tossed a scroll to Kushina, one which was not sealed closed, which meant she was to read it now.

While she read, Minato regarded the Genin on the team. "You will be expected to progress to at least the finals in the Chunin Exam, so I expect you to be ready for when they roll around. You have roughly 2 and ½ months to prepare. Do not disappoint, as you will be representing Konoha if your classmates do not also participate." Minato informed the three, his eyes trailing back up to Kushina, who had finished reading the scroll and looked to Natsumi discretely. "This will be a B-Ranked mission, of which you will be paid for 2 of them permitted you pass the Chunin Exams as well. Sasuke, Naruto, dismissed. Natsumi and Kushina stay behind." Minato ordered, his stern, booming voice ordering the other two genin out.

As he exited with Sasuke trailing behind him, Naruto couldn't help but wonder on the reason for this mission. While he knew that Kumo and Konoha were on a hopeful relationship that had been plagued by the war and Kumo's attempt to capture a Hyuuga, which had ended in Kumo paying Konoha for their troubles and the Raikage apologizing and stating he had no knowledge of the matter, Naruto also knew that there was really no need for Ambassadors, especially only 2 months out from the Chunin Exams. Perhaps it was a show of trust?

No, surely not, the Hokage wouldn't send a team with his _Wife and Daughter_ on it then. It had to do with something else and Naruto wasn't entirely sure what. "Hey Naruto," a soft, feminine voice broke Naruto out of his thoughts, prompting the boy to turn to his left and look at Sasuke, who had addressed him. "Yes, Sasuke?" Naruto replied softly, curious as to what the girl, who usually ignored him, or mocked him when she did notice him, had to say. She looked rather timid, knotting her hands together by the hem of her shirt, and looking at him oddly.

"Have you ever, have you ever been out of Konoha?" The girl questioned. Naruto thought it was odd, but likewise still decided to answer her despite his intrigue. "Ah, yes actually. Both of my parents were merchants, and when I was a little kid before I started the Academy we would travel rather frequently between Wave, Konoha, and a small little village I forget the name of. Eventually when the Academy began we settled more in Konoha, and since then I have not left the village. I am excited to see Kumogakure, and to meet the people there. I hope to make a good impression, for Konoha." Naruto added, before turning to look at Sasuke, who no longer looked nervous and instead had narrowed her eyes and glared at something ahead of her, of which Naruto could not see.

"Hnn." Sasuke replied, before walking faster than the blonde, eventually disappearing from his sight. The boy sighed, shaking his head, before heading further into Konoha's market. He waved occasionally to people who he had bought food regularly from, before taking a sharp left into an unusually wide alley way, pushing past a labyrinth of sleeping cots and tents, before finding a small pile of bedding that had been neatly stacked into a small square, along with a another set of clothing, a simple black shirt and white shorts, and quickly began to get dressed, taking of the dressier and all black work clothes he had for his more Shinobi Oriented Clothing.

"Yer' off early, why's that, Naru-boy?" Questioned an old, gray-haired man that had been sitting in the far back corner of the alley way. Naruto smiled to him as he tugged on his shirt. "Hokage called me in, had ChoCho cover my shift. Turns out I'm gonna be goin' ta' Kumo for 3 months." Naruto replied, his speech changing slightly to fit the man he had been speaking to. The gray haired man's brows went up slightly, as he nodded and jabbed a spoon into a small bowl. "Ah, now that sounds like some good times. Be sure to bring me back a pitcher' of one a' those dark-skinned girls over in Kumo, ya hear?" The man requested with a hearty smile and a loud, booming laugh, with Naruto joining in.

"Haha, I'll be sure to ya ol' perv." Naruto told the old man, leaving the alley as the gray haired man laughed. "When ya' get ta' be my age, ya' can't help yer' self!" He had shouted to Naruto as the blonde rounded the corner out of the alley way,

Only to smash into a woman who fell onto the ground, rubbing her head and mumbling something in slight pain. "Ah Sorry! I was in too much of a hurry and couldn't stop myself quick enough." Naruto hastily apologized, bouncing up off the ground and running over to help her up. Naruto pushed his hand underneath her and hoisted her up onto his knee. "I'm so sorry. I should've been watching where I was going." Naruto apologized again, before he kept silent as the woman rubbed her head, before she looked up to him.

Naruto found that he had a hard time turning away from her Amber eyes shrouded in Lavender eye shadow that matched her blue hair so well, even the little paper rose that adorned her hair. Naruto was so struck by her appearance that he missed the innocent little piece of paper that flew into the innocently into the wind, fluttering lightly as it left the pair.

-Line Break-

Kushina set the scroll down lightly on Minato's desk softly, and stepped back, her hand resting lightly onto Natsumi's shoulder, the red-haired girl bending her neck to look up at her mother with curious eyes.

"Natsumi," her father began, prompting the girl to drop her head and focus her attention onto her Father, her Hokage at the moment. "Yes, Tou-san?" Natsumi questioned, prompting the old man to sigh, bothered by the Innocence she held in her voice, something he cherished but didn't want to hear right now.

"Everything," Minato sighed again, rubbing his forehead, before nodding to himself and staring into the mirrored pair of Sapphire eyes his daughter got from him. "Everything I told your team is a lie." Minato began, causing Natsumi to gasp in shock, widening her eyes and staring at him. "W-What? Why would you lie to them? Don't they need to know what the mission is so that they can get it done properly?!" Natsumi questioned in curiosity and shock, prompting her father to shake his head.

"In this case, no. In truth, while yes your team technically _are_ serving as Ambassadors, the real reason you are being sent to Kumo is for _you._ You see, Kumo has a Shinobi known as Killer Bee, don't be scared by the Killer part of his name, he's really a goofy character." Minato chuckled as he thought back to his scuffles with the large shinobi. "Team 7 is being sent to Kumo so that you may receive training under Bee." At her questioning gaze, Minato elaborated. "He is the only Jinchuriki to attain perfect harmony with his Bijuu." Minato explained, and watched as the meaning of his words sunk in for his daughter.

Her expression darkened slightly, but she nodded. "I understand, Tou-san. What should I tell my team?" Natsumi questioned her father, staring into his eyes. This caused Minato to backpedal slightly. "Do you not trust them?" Minato questioned, watching as his daughter went through a series of emotions.

"I do. I really, really do. But," Natsumi looked down, fumbling with her hands and her words, "I cherish them as well. And, a-and I don't want them to think any differently about me." Natsumi explained, a particular event with Naruto coming to mind. " _I see you for who you are. Natsumi. Not Natsumi Namikaze, just Natsumi. Got that!?"_ Despite Naruto and her not ever really retaining that connection since that day, Natsumi still treasured his words more than he knew.

Minato nodded, getting up and kneeling in front of his daughter, his index finger coming out to softly wipe a tear that Natsumi didn't know she let escape her eye. Drawing her in for a hug, with Kushina joining in, Minato whispered little comforts into her ear.

-Line Break-

"So you're from Ame? I think my parents took me there once, I don't think we were there that long, but if I remember correctly, it rains all the time there right?" Naruto questioned with a chirpy tone to his voice, walking happily beside the blue-haired woman from before, who nodded with a soft smile on her face to his words.

"Yes, it is rather dreadful weather we have in Ame." Konan replied, staring down at the little bundle of unexpected sunshine she had met not even 10 minutes earlier. He had managed to make her feel happiness that she hadn't in quite a long while. However, it had made her scared, and worried, by the feeling resurfacing. Not because she did not like it, but because the boy _did_ have the Rinnegan, which meant that something disastrous could happen to him, whether he be killed for his eyes, or corrupted much like Nagato had been, and it made Konan want to cherish the boy.

As the pair walked, a 6 man group rapidly caught up to them, before coming up to Naruto's right, 3 of them walking in front of him and stopping the pair from walking. 6 pairs of eyes widened as Naruto stared up at one of the people standing in front of him. "Uhhh, hello? Who are you?" Naruto questioned, waving his hand in front of a large burly man with many piercings in his face, a seemingly permanent scowl on his face.

They were all dressed in large, gray cloaks that covered their whole body. An orange haired man with 3 piercings on each side of his nose bent down to Naruto's eye level, allowing Naruto to notice the swirls within his eyes, prompting Naruto to notice that each of the 6 people had swirls in them as well. "Wha- you all have the same eyes as me!?" Naruto exclaimed lowly in shock, backing up slightly, which caused him to bump into another large burly man behind him. "What's, what's going on here?" Naruto questioned lowly, staring into the eyes of the man at his eye level.

"You are Naruto, correct?" At his nod, the man nodded as well. "I am… Nagato." At his words, Konan gasped quietly, her eyes widening, while Naruto merely nodded. "As you can see, I bear the same eyes you do. They are the Rinnegan. The only other known bearer of these eyes is the Rikudou Sennin, the progenitor of the Shinobi World, the man who gifted us with Chakra and it's many uses. These, are _very_ powerful eyes, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened at his words, and his mouth opened slightly. "Wh-What… What do you mean?" Naruto questioned, and the orange haired man in front of him merely blinked. "Well, I am transmitting my will through the 6 bodies you see in front of you. I can only do this through the use of my Rinnegan. I am not even within a mile of where we currently are. I am all the way in Ame." Nagato explained, and Naruto's mouth dropped a little further.

"B-but how is all of this possible? If these eyes were that powerful, surely someone would've told me about my eyes by now. I've had them for almost 2 years now." Naruto reasoned to himself, his words coming out as whispers. "That is because these eyes are incredibly rare. I am unsure how either of us even came into possession of these eyes in the first place. But, I can tell you, it comes with many advantages and powers. All of which I can teach you." Nagato explained, still staring into Naruto's eyes through Yahiko's body. He couldn't explain it, but he felt… _giddy_ to know that his dreams were real. But he wasn't sure why. He wanted to cherish Naruto. Grow him into the hero he always wanted to be. Groom him to… what? He was going to say groom him to take over his plan to gather the Bijuu, but did he truly want that anymore? He wasn't sure.

"But, why would you teach me?" Naruto questioned, his head still reeling from the information he had just been loaded with. This is where Nagato had nothing to say. "I…" Yahiko's body looked down, "I…" Nagato closed the eyes of his paths and opened his real ones, staring down at the husk that was his body, watching as it surged upwards to take a simple breath. Reopening Yahiko's eyes, he worded his reasoning. "I wish to redeem myself through you. To teach you, so that you may right my wrongs. Fix what I have done in my confusion and hate. To show the world that love is stronger than hate." Nagato answered finally, feeling a weight being lifted off of his chest as he did so.

"I, I don't know what t-" "Naruto! Where are you Naruto! We need to get going! We've got a mission you dobe!" Sasuke's voice interrupted Naruto's own, causing the boy to look to his right, only to see more Rinnegan-eyed bodies. "Sorry! I've got a mission to do! Gotta be an Ambassador to Kumo and all, you know how it is!" Naruto shouted hastily to Yahiko's body, pushing past the paths in his way and running towards where he heard Sasuke, stumbling along the way.

Yahiko stood up straight, the six paths watching Naruto run away. Konan strode up to beside Yahiko, eyes wide and lips parted slightly. "Did you, did you mean what you said." Konan demanded, her voice shaking slightly. Nagato remained silent, pondering, before Yahiko's body nodded. "Yes. I have recently begun to see the error in my actions and my goals. I will correct it through Naruto." Nagato explained. Konan nodded.

"What will we do now?" Konan questioned, looking up, for once, at the ringed eyes of Yahiko's body, instead of his face to lose herself in her memories, preferring to be in the present right now. "We will train him. Pass onto him the ideals of Jiraiya-Sensei. We must not act any different to the Akatsuki, lest Tobi catch on. We _cannot_ have him target Naruto before the boy is ready. You and I both know he is much stronger than even me utilizing all of my paths. The boy must be prepared to face the full might of the Akatsuki and come out stronger. When the time comes, we will help him. For now, he had a mission, and we have a base to return to."


	7. Chapter 7

"Orochimaru," a cold, meticulous voice called out in a drawling way, "Kisame." The voice finished slowly, as if calculating something whilst speaking. The pair, both adorning black cloaks with red clouds sprawled across the fabric, stared at the man standing across from them, the orange mask adorning his face lightly illuminated by the single, slowly spinning Sharingan in the only hole of the spiraling mask. Orochimaru grinned, staring directly into the Sharingan's gaze with no fear, knowing full well that the man in front of him would not put him under his eye's influence. Orochimaru liked to believe it was because he was important, and not because the man felt that it would be a waste of time.

"Yes, Tobi-san?" Orochimaru questioned, his voice falling out of his mouth like silky carpet, his tongue peeking out after he finished. Kisame stared at the man, but said nothing, though he felt the large bandaged sword on his back bristle slightly.

Orochimaru watched as the tomoe in Tobi's eye spun quickly all of a sudden, but slowed to a stop as the man closed his eye, and sighed. "Oh, well, it appears that Pein-sama has sent Konan-hime to Kumogakure. *Sigh*, I wonder why he would do that…" Tobi pointed his index finger onto his mask, before suddenly snapping his eye open and glaring at the pair in front of him, as if he was angered by something. "She should be spending her time here! Tending to Pein-Sama's every wish! Go to Kumo and figure out why she would leave Pein-Sama's side!" Tobi angrily demanded, stomping his foot.

Kisame went to decline, wishing to say that, if Pein had sent her away, he wanted her in Kump anyway, but Orochimaru shushed him with a glance. "Of course, Tobi-san. Right away." Orochimaru replied, turning around with Kisame hesitantly following.

"Why the hell are you following the orders of a fucking child!?" Kisame demanded when they were within the walls of Ame, headed out. The rain battered Orochimaru's face, flattening his hair, though his gleaming snake eyes peered outward. "Well, Kisame-san, aren't you the least bit curious as to why Pein-Sama would send his right hand woman to Kumo of all places? I do not believe he assigned her to a Bijuu, after all…" Orochimaru let his voice fade, his stalking gait making him look like a snake on two legs, and Kisame believed he was even less than that.

-Line Break-

 _1 Month after last chapter_

Naruto looked across the mountain tops that made up Kumogakure, swinging his feet across a rooftop that he had decided to take a seat on. He sighed heavily, bringing his left hand smashing into his hair and pulling at it slightly. Naruto's eyes screamed in quiet stress as he stared at the item in his hand.

An innocent, little, blue origami rose. The item that marked Naruto as Konan's comrade, and Pein's Redeemer. Konan had met up with him a little over halfway into Team 7's trek towards Kumo in Yugakure, looking to receive his answer to Nagato's proposal.

 _-Flashback-_

 _Naruto grunted quietly as he rubbed his forehead, the heat from the steam of Yugakure tiring the boy out and making him sweat heavily. Slicking back his wet hair, Naruto stared at the backs of his team. It was getting dark out, and Naruto swore he could see less than half of the sun over the horizon, but he wasn't sure, as the steam of Yugakure was heavy and thick, blocking his vision. "Okay team, we're going to go get a hotel for the night. First thing first tomorrow morning we are packing up and heading towards Kumo. We can't afford to be late." Kushina called back to her team, making Naruto sigh happily in relief._

 _-Line Break-_

 _Naruto found that he enjoyed the steam of Yugakure when it was in a hot spring, instead of blaring onto his face from the wilds. Naruto leaned his head back onto the stone floor behind him, relaxing further into the water. His thoughts began to drift, towards the people he had met and talked to before he left Konoha. '_ I wish to redeem myself through you. To teach you, so that you may right my wrongs. Fix what I have done in my confusion and hate. To show the world that love is stronger than hate.' _Nagato's words rang within Naruto's head, causing the boy to scrunch up his nose. Him? What could he, an orphan, a child frequently lying to his own_ _ **sensei**_ _about his understanding of the techniques she was teaching him so that his teammates wouldn't be held back by how slow he was, do to redeem a man who could project his conscience onto 6 bodies at once? What, because he had the same eyes as the same man? Pfft. There were Uchiha who couldn't fully mature their Sharingan, what's to say the Rinnegan would be any different?_

 _Naruto's thoughts then began to drift to the young, blue-haired beauty he had knocked into. Naruto had taken notice of her stride, the elegance she portrayed even when Naruto helped hoist her up off of the ground, or even the simple grace she seemed to exhibit in spades when she offered her hand to Naruto, wishing to walk with him. Naruto found he respected her ability to be so graceful, and secretly began to desire that she would teach him said elegance._

 _Naruto's eyes snapped open as he felt the water shift to his right, causing the boy to look to his right, and watched as a little origami duck flapped its way along the water, its legs moving to propel it forward. Naruto watched it with shocked, yet intrigued eyes. A living origami? How was such a thing possible. Suddenly, 5 other ducks floated up beside the one duck, their legs moving in unison, before they slowly stopped, floating casually over to Naruto's side._

 _Naruto stared at them, before jumping backwards, out of the water with a loud scream, as the 6 ducks opened their eyes, violet rings spreading over the paper and staring at Naruto, even as he scrambled to hold his towel up. "Wha-wha-what's going on here?!" Naruto panted out in shock and fear, backing up, until he bumped into someone behind him, causing him to jump forward and turn around, his eyes further widening as he found that the person he had bumped into was Konan._

 _Naruto, for some reason, began to calm down as he saw her, though a little stare from the 6 ducks quickly brought him back to earth. "U-hahuh-hmmm…." Naruto's voice wavered, as his eyes couldn't decide on whether or not to focus on the ducks or Konan._

" _Naruto-san, while Nagato-kun can't speak through my Origami ducks, he can watch and listen, as he wanted to be here when we received your answer to his proposal." Konan's soft voice explained to Naruto, prompting the boy to look at her. "What? Ho-how is that even possible?" Naruto questioned, before blushing as Konan stared at him in a deadpan. "He can control 6 human bodies at once, why would paper ducks be any different?" Konan chided him, though the boy merely slumped his shoulders, and dipped himself back into the water, to avoid any more embarrassment should he lose grip of his towel._

" _So, have you decided on whether or not you will take up Nagato-kun's offer?" Konan questioned softly, striding up to crouch next to Naruto, staring intently into his ringed eyes, which brought her back to a time of happiness, of Yahiko_ and _Nagato. She did not flinch, instead choosing to indulge more into the delusions Naruto's eyes provided her._

 _She was quietly disappointed when he looked away from her and shook his head. "No, I haven't. I just," Naruto sighed, his shoulder slumping forward, a look of downcast coming over his face. "I don't have anything to offer, and it just makes me feel like you two should choose someone else. Someone like Natsumi, or Sasuke even. I mean, besides my eyes, why am I even fit to carry on this task?" To his question, Konan did not have an answer. It seemed Nagato did, as the six ducks swam closer, and stared into Naruto's eyes, though whatever he wanted to say would not get through._

" _Besides, I've never been good with Shinobi things. I think, once Natsumi and Sasuke pass the Chunin Exams, no doubt leaving me behind, I'll," Naruto staggered, looking at Konan and feeling shameful of what he was going to say, wishing to hide it from her, but the piercing ducks floating above his lap forced his mouth. "I'll resign. I'll quit. I'll, I'll," Tears came to Naruto's eyes slowly, as his anger grew and his frustration reached a boiling point, "I'LL GIVE UP DAMMIT!" Naruto shouted, smashing his fist into the water, heaving angrily._

 _Konan nor the ducks moved, simply staring at the boy. Konan nodded slightly, though did not say anything. Naruto whimpered softly. "Why did things have to happen this way?" Naruto questioned to no one in particular. "Why did my parents have to die? If they absolutely had to, why couldn't I go with them?" Naruto sighed heavily, tears dripping into the water below him._

" _Why did Hokage-sama have to put me into a team I didn't fit with, and never will? Why did I have to get placed with two prodigies that eclipse me in every way?" Naruto chuckled, raising his head and looking at Konan and the ducks in front of him. "It's pathetic, but I've been lying to my Sensei for some time now, telling her I understand a technique and can execute it properly, just so she can move on. I just, you know," Naruto dropped his head again, "I don't want to slow them down." Naruto felt ashamed to admit it, but at the same time it felt good to admit said things._

 _A scroll was placed in front of his face, prompting the boy to look up at Konan, who was holding it out for him. "Nagato-kun was going to give this to you, regardless if you decided to take up his proposal or not. As a sign of camaraderie and companionship between two Rinnegan wielders. It is a Rinnegan Technique." Konan explained calmly. If she was affected in any way by Naruto's outburst, she did not let it show._

 _ **The Technique is easy enough to perform. It has become as basic and necessary to me that it is like a kunai in its frequent use. It can be powerful, or harmless. It all depends on your intent. That is the one part to the Jutsu that I cannot teach you, for I simply cannot put it into words. You have to**_ **feel** _ **what you want to do. And simply, unleash it.**_

 _ **When you do, you will feel an instinct. A primal need. An urge. It will be released in the words, "Shinra"**_

" _Tensei." Naruto said as he finished reading. Naruto's thoughts were brought back to the fateful day that he had lost his parents. A man stood above him, kunai poised to slice open his jugular and let him bleed out all over the floor. Naruto's eyes darkened, a cold sheen glazing over them as Naruto rose slowly. While he did not know it, he stood on the surface of the water, staring at the wall in front of him. He did not care whether or not it lead to Yugakure. He did not care whether or not it would completely destroy the hot spring he was in. Nothing mattered, as he slowly raised his right hand._

 _Konan and the six ducks, which had waddled up to Konan, watched as Naruto's eyes began to glow brightly. 'He's channeling… so much… power. H-How is this,' Konan's thoughts were interrupted as Naruto's quiet whisper broke the silence as he dropped his arm. "Shinra. Tensei." Konan learned something that day. She could not expect anything Naruto did to be similar to Nagato's. It was simply an impossibility._

 _In the instant the words left Naruto's mouth, there was no clear path of destruction like there was with Nagato's. There was no buildup. There was simply,_ _ **it.**_ _Konan felt the shockwaves hit her before her eyes saw what happened. However, Naruto and Nagato's eyes watched as the world in front of Naruto crumbled under his crushing might. Under the gravity of his feelings. Of his ambition. Of his will._

 _When the dust settled, the roof atop Naruto fell towards the cliff edge Naruto was looking over. Wood and water fell steadily down the huge gorge that Yugakure prided itself on for its tourism views. Naruto stared down, his eyes cold and glazed over, still remembering the day his parents had died. Now, however, he remembered a different aspect to it. It was also, the first day he had killed someone. However, destroying a house was one thing,_

 _Obliterating everything in front of him was another._

 _-Flashback end-_

Naruto had accepted Nagato's proposal rather readily after he finished brooding, simply looking over the new cliff he had created, a sort of rounded cliff that had extended past either end of the hot spring. Naruto had learned the next morning, through shuffled news articles he heard being called out and whispered on, that the entire back wing of the hot springs had been obliterated by his technique. Something that made Naruto apprehensive, was the fact that he _knew_ he could cause even more destruction, given a proper motive, or even simply the time to unleash it.

One thing Naruto found was positive about that experience, was his excitement at just how… _naturally_ the Rinnegan technique came to him, revitalizing his eagerness to learn more. Naruto no longer felt like he was a complete fool, taking a week or longer to learn a single technique. Instead, he had simply read an explanation of what it _felt_ like to cast the technique, instead of how to actually do it. It had made him feel proud.

"Naruto-kun," a soft voice that caused Naruto to smile emanated from behind him, and Naruto watched with happiness fluttering in his eyes as the paper rose in his hand unfolded on its own and refolded itself into a bird that flew high above his head, flapping its wings and twisting its head at him, before flying behind him, prompting the boy to turn his head and watched as the paper bird refolded into a rose, which Konan extended back to him with a soft smile gracing her face.

Naruto smiled at her, standing up and brushing himself off, before delicately taking the rose from her hand, and watched as it unfolded around his hand, until it folded into a thin bracelet around his left wrist. "Your abilities with origami never cease to amaze me, Konan-chan." Naruto admitted, staring at the blue band around his wrist, before he raised his ringed gaze to meet Konan's own eyes, her blue hair blowing slightly into her face from the wind of Kumo's high altitude.

Konan responded to his words with an amused chuckle. "Ah well, I suppose that's only natural. You are still a fresh genin, many things should be amazing you at this point." Konan chided, striding towards him and lightly ruffling his hair. Naruto grunted angrily, forcing her hand away from his hair. "Gah what'd you know about my experience anyway." Naruto muttered, before receiving a hard hit to his head this time, causing the boy to stumble forward. The roof beneath him was slippery, causing the boy to continue stumbling until he fell over the edge of the house. Konan sighed, before leaning over the edge, watching as Naruto grumbled to himself, his feet planted firmly on the side of the building he was on.

"Well, at least it is good to see you have mastered the Tree Walking technique. Though I suppose I expected it to not take much, considering you had mastered Water Walking." Konan admitted, prompting Naruto to smile at her praise. "Ah thanks Kon-" Naruto was interrupted as a beam made of paper slammed into his gut, forcing him to lose his grip and go tumbling back down the side of the wall until he channeled chakra to his hand, latching him onto the side of the building as Konan's paper fluttered up towards her once more.

"I see you still cannot expect the unexpected." Konan chided amusedly, chuckling lightly to herself. Naruto groaned, hoisting his other hand up, channeling chakra to that hand, before swinging bending his back, allowing his feet to plant themselves onto the side of the building he was on, letting go of his hands and flinching slightly as the pain in his back faded. "Gah, needa work on my flexibility a good bit as well. Probably gonna need that for the Chunin Exams soon enough." Naruto admitted as well, climbing back onto the roof without a paper construct slamming into him this time. Konan merely nodded, swinging her feet over the edge as she observed Kumo.

Naruto had learned from her that she had never been to Kumo, so both of them were strangers in the odd village. It was rather different from all villages, even the likes of Kiri and Suna. Naruto sat down beside her, looking out over the cloudy village with her. "It has been a month Naruto. Do you believe you are ready for another Rinnegan Technique? Nagato-kun sent one earlier this week, and I received it this morning." Konan randomly said, much to Naruto's surprise and excitement as he jumped backwards, his eyes widening in clear excitement.

"Really! Really! What is it!? Tell me! Tell me!" Naruto shouted in pure excitement, jumping up and down on the roof happily. Konan sighed, looking away, if only to hide her amused smile at the boy's actions, bringing her back to a happier time. Naruto reminded her so much of Yahiko at times, easily excitable and extremely caring for those close to him, and at other times he reminded her of Nagato before Yahiko's death, quiet and contemplative, always trying to figure out what someone was thinking and why they were thinking that way. She found that she enjoyed Naruto's company more than she thought she would. Perhaps it was because he reminded her of those good times, where she managed to find happiness despite being an orphan in war. Or perhaps it was because he had brought the light back to Nagato's eyes, the good intentions returning to the man's mental forefront. She sighed, smiling as she stood up. It was good to be in Kumogakure with Naruto.

From a distance, a white snake watched in intrigue, wishing to share its findings with its master. He, surely, would be curious after all. Why would Konan adopt an apprentice at this point? Why would she be training a young boy? Perhaps he was to be a new member of the Akatsuki? Whatever it was, the snake's master wanted to know. A forked tongue poked out, tasting the air, before darting back into its mouth. Chakra was building, meaning *poof* the duo was preparing a Shunshin.

-Line Break-

In the forests surrounding Konoha stood 7 figures. 6 were all orange-haired individuals, their Violet, Ringed eyes glowing with power as they stood assembled, the piercings along their bodies vibrating slightly with chakra. The other figure, standing with a spiraled, porcelain mask allowed the glow of his Sharingan to begin to emanate from the single hole in his mask, as he stared with a hidden anger in his eyes.

"Pein. I know this village like the back of my hand. The edge of my kunai. There is a patrol that regularly checks the outer wall around the compound. It's in intervals of 2 minutes. When we see the patrol pass, we go in. Understood?" Tobi informed, a stern and edged tone to his voice, sounding much like a blade being sharpened. Pein's Deva Path merely nodded, staring into the single Sharingan eye of Tobi. Thankfully, his Rinnegan made him invulnerable to the Sharingan's influence, he'd hate to be the man's tool, despite being one at the moment. It infuriated him. Which was why he was very much excited to have Naruto in his life, even if he only saw the boy once through Yahiko's eyes. He did not count the ducks for… he wouldn't want to tell someone he had communicated through paper ducks of all things.

"Good," As Tobi began to speak, Pein's eyes flashed towards the patrolling shinobi that leaped across the towering wall of Konoha. Tobi's eyes caught it too, as he suddenly was skewed into his Kamui dimension. Pein's 12 glowing eyes watched the shinobi jump by, before he approached the wall. His Preta Path stepped forward, the bulky man with the permanent scowl. The body raised its two hands, and immediately began to drain the chakra from Konoha's Security Seals. Pein's other 5 bodies stepped through, while the Preta Path removed his hands from the barrier and stepped back. Wordlessly, the King of Hell rose up silently behind the body, and Pein allowed the body to drop backwards into its mouth, as the King sank back into the ground.

Tobi dropped down beside Pein's Paths as the King of Hell silently emerged beside Pein, shrouded in darkness besides for its glowing eyes, and deposited the Preta Path from its mouth. Tobi stared in intrigue, but said nothing. The mission they were about to embark on was far more important. Tobi turned around, his lone Sharingan Eye gazing at the Hokage Monument, staggering for a split moment on the carving of Minato Namikaze, before closing his eye and breathing in deeply, reopening his Sharingan eye which had warped into his Mangekyo eye. It was tinted with a sadness that quickly skewed into angry determination.

Without turning around, Tobi addressed Pein. "We move immediately. To the Uchiha Compound." Tobi ordered, stepping forward for a split second, before disappearing in a blur. Pein stared at the dust that swirled around where his foot was, before he and his 6 bodies disappeared as well.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto blinked slowly as he listened to Kushina babble on about some technique or another that she was going to teach them today, staring off into the clouds that frequented the air space above and around Kumo. Naruto had decided that, while he didn't hold it against his team, he almost hated the time he spent with them. It had brought him back to his lonely self, a self-loathing individual with no semblance of self worth. It wasn't any fault of his team, but he had spent so much time with them as this person that it was difficult to shake it off. Especially when he knew that, if he was with Konan like he was when he wasn't with his team, he would be happy, growling in annoyance under her light teases and grinning in determination every time she sparred with him.

"Naruto does that sound alright with you?" Kushina's voice interrupted Naruto's pleasant thoughts of his time with Konan, causing Naruto to blink and turn his head to meet his team's patient gaze. "Hmm?" Naruto questioned, his ringed eyes pulsing in boredom. Kushina mentally frowned, as her brows furrowed. It seemed that, no matter what she did, it was hard to break Naruto out of whatever shell he was in. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get some lunch after training today?" Kushina offered, trying to include the boy in the daily routines of her team. He always left before she could offer it to him, so she decided to do it before their training. Naruto stared at her, his piercing gaze making Kushina want to flinch away under some unseen power she thought he held in his eyes, and watched curiously as a malevolent anger flashed through his eyes, and Kushina thought that, for a moment, the gravity of her words had come crushing down at her, forcing her to strain her legs to keep her standing proudly, before suddenly it dissipated as Naruto looked away, nodding slightly. "Sure."

Kushina sighed happily, clapping her hands. "Excellent! Now, let's get to sparring!" At her words, Sasuke looked excited, Natsumi merely smiled softly, and Naruto sighed heavily. Naruto had found that, unlike before where he viewed spars as a way for him to see just how far away he was from Sasuke and Natsumi's levels, now he viewed them as a restraint, as he did not want his team to know about his training with Konan, out of fear that Kushina would restrict him from going, or demand that she teach the team as a whole or something. Naruto knew it was irrational to think such, but Naruto thought so anyway. He believed it might have something to do with how he cherished Konan these days, but he didn't dwell on it. He found that when he dwelled on things he didn't like it after he did so.

Naruto got up quickly, jogging lightly over to his team as they walked, before settling into a sedated pace beside them. He stuffed his left hand into his shorts pocket, before lifting his right hand up to look at it as he walked. Specifically, he was looking at the light blue band around his wrist. Naruto smiled softly as he stared at it, lightly channeling chakra into to it and watching as it unfolded into a normal piece of paper. Before it could float away, Naruto grabbed it with his right hand and held it, once again channeling a minute amount of chakra in it.

Once he did so, he began to visualize the paper through his chakra, and began to fold it into a form with his chakra. During his walk it slowly began to take the form of a crude paper rose, one that didn't have the smooth edges or neat curves that Konan's did, but was rugged and sharp. Naruto smiled, even at his crude work. Konan had begun to teach Naruto her origami skills/techniques after he continued to praise her skills, something which Naruto was still amazed at given how hard it was to perform the techniques. Eventually, she said, it became second nature, to the point that he could even 'shred' his body into millions of individual pieces of paper that he could manipulate simultaneously. She had showed him such a move once, though on a small scale with only her left arm. Naruto had watched in awe, and found that he could see the way her arm split, with the chakra forming her own matter into that of paper, and sharpening it.

After he explained this to her, Konan began training of her own, wishing to add wind chakra into this action, so that he paper would be able to shred anything. Naruto wished to try, but knew that he didn't have the control of neither his chakra or of wind chakra necessary to attempt this. Even Konan was skeptical if it would even work, but never the less continued to try.

"Alright Team 7, we have another team joining us today. Meet Team Samui, they will be your sparring partners today." Kushina motioned to the team of Kumo Shinobi that were standing behind her awkwardly, a large tree standing proudly where they all rested their backs on, with the only male on the team sitting. The blonde stepped forward, a stoic expression marring her face as her eyes scanned the team in front of her, stopping for a brief second on Naruto, before sighing. "My name is Samui, leader of Team Samui. The girl back there is Karui, and the one with the lollipop in his mouth is Omoi. You are?" Samui introduced herself and her team, and her last question was only a formality for the two girls of Team 7 as the Raikage had informed her of them, though she truly didn't know about the boy with the strange eyes that seemed to want her to drown in them.

Natsumi stepped forward, a soft smile on her face. "Hi. I'm Natsumi. This is Sasuke," Natsumi motioned to her right, even clasping her hand on Sasuke's shoulder in a friendly manner, one which caused Sasuke to smirk, "and back there's Naruto. Pleasure." Natsumi offered her hand after she finished, and Samui did not go for it, though Omoi jumped up and grabbed it with both hands, shaking it excitedly. "Oh I've heard about you! Natsumi Namikaze, daughter of the Hokage, prodigy of her generation!" Omoi shouted excitedly, before jumping back, his hand reaching for his lollipop. "Hrmmm… that does mean Konoha could be planning an invasion though…" he would've sunk into his fantasies, has Karui not smacked him with the hilt of her sword. "That's enough Omoi. Quit being stupid." She demanded after placing her sword back on her back, angrily huffing while Omoi rubbed his head.

Samui stepped towards Naruto, staring sternly into his eyes. "Naruto was it?" At her question, Naruto stared into her eyes, and nodding with caution swirling in his rings like a rollercoaster. "Yeah, why?" Naruto questioned, staring into her eyes as well. Samui wanted to step forward again, but didn't, as she began to lose herself and her thoughts into his eyes, the world around her even beginning to warp slightly. Shaking her head, she looked away. "Your eyes, they look interesting. Are they perhaps a Dojutsu?" Her question was sound, and something that Kushina, Natsumi, and Sasuke had often pondered, though none of them asked for various reasons.

Naruto stared at her, pondering whether or not he should tell her, and if he did, exactly _what_ he should tell her. Clearly, the Rinnegan wasn't a household name if people didn't know about it from simply looking at it, but still. They were the eyes of the _Rikodu Sennin,_ that wasn't easy knowledge to give away. "Uhhh, not sure really. I don't come from a clan, my parents didn't have it, so I'm not sure." Naruto responded finally, Samui breaking eye contact halfway through his words.

Turning around, Samui strode towards her team. "You should look into that. They seem to have some Genjutsu properties." At her words, Naruto rose one brow in question, before dropping it and deciding to ask Konan later. "Alright well," Kushina broke the silence awkwardly, trying to smile it off, but couldn't, "Let's get started. It'll be Natsumi vs. Samui, Sasuke vs. Karui, and Naruto vs. Omoi. Naruto vs. Omoi first." Kushina called out, the other taking a step back while Naruto and Omoi stepped forward, staring into each other's eyes.

Omoi began to make plans, some rational, some irrational, and even pondered on his opponent's skill level, where he had estimations of Yondaime Hokage all the way down to new born child, his mind racing a mile a minute, before he locked eyes with Naruto. His thoughts came to a standstill as the boy looked at him. His lower lip dropped slightly, and before long his mind had completely calmed itself, allowing him to think clearly. "Woah…" Omoi muttered out, staring at Naruto still. "Samui wasn't kidding…" His words caught Naruto off guard and made Team 7 extremely intrigued. Kushina, despite wanting to confirm Team Samui's findings or not, stepped forward with one arm extended. "Readyyy…. HAJIME!" Jumping away, she watched as the boys… did nothing.

Omoi found that it was hard for him to take his eyes off of Naruto's, finding a strange… comfort in it. Naruto, meanwhile, wanted to react accordingly to whatever Omoi would do, and watched him intently. Kushina stared at the pair, her annoyance growing, before she threw a smoke bomb up in the air. Naruto's eyes were drawn to it, breaking the connection between Omoi and Naruto's eyes, causing Omoi to shake his head and touch his forehead. "What the…" he muttered, before quickly drawing his sword and preparing himself as he looked at Naruto, who watched the smoke willow away into the air.

"I don't know what you were doing, but I'm free of it now!" Omoi shouted, causing Naruto to stare at him. "Uhhh, well I don't know what you're talking about but… regardless," Naruto began to flash into handsigns, until he stopped himself. He didn't want to reveal anything, did he? Jumping forward, Naruto slipped under a quick swing from Omoi, and slammed his left foot into the boy's side, before quickly rotating his body, bringing his right foot into the air, and slamming it into Omoi's head, causing Omoi to slide away while Naruto landed softly, regaining his footing quickly.

Omoi found that his vision was blurry for a quick moment before it cleared, allowing him to see as Naruto dashed forward once more, only for Omoi to bring his right hand, the one with his sword into it, high into the air and dropping his sword downwards towards the ground, his left palm slamming onto its flat surface just as Naruto's fist connected with it, blocking the hit. Clicking his tongue quickly, Naruto snaked his free hand onto Omoi's right hand and began to maneuver his fingers into his grip, causing Omoi to jump away before Naruto could claim his sword.

Omoi dropped his sword to the ground and quickly began to flash through handsigns. An electric charge began to quickly build around Omoi's right hand, which he then extended towards Naruto, and a lightning strike charged towards Naruto. Naruto saw it, and dashed towards his left, discreetly cast the Preta Path on the left side of his body, which would've been caught in the jutsu had he not done so. For some reason, whether from the plans made with Kushina which wouldn't allow him to see Konan, Naruto was angry, and was finding it hard to restrict himself from using his full arsenal.

Omoi gathered up his sword and ran towards Naruto, flipping it into a reverse grip and bringing it down in an overhead slash, which Naruto avoided, though the boy couldn't avoid Omoi's spinning head kick that slammed into the back of his neck shortly afterwards. Naruto found himself on the ground, causing him to jump upwards, even as a sword slammed right next to where his head would've been, purposefully missed by Omoi as it was only a spar, though the boy couldn't react as Naruto landed on the sword's hilt, crouching on Omoi's hand painfully.

"Hey there." Naruto cheekily waved, before jumping upwards as Omoi slashed at him with a kunai in his free hand, allowing Omoi to free the sword. As he did so, the Kumo shinobi raised it and quickly brought it down on a landing Naruto, forcing the boy to bring his arm up to avoid decapitation. Blood splattered on Naruto's face as the sword embedded itself into his forearm, and Naruto widened his eyes, as did Omoi. Even as the pain began to flood Naruto's senses, his eyes caught sight of a floating blue band that had been cut in two, making his eyes widen even further, and anger suddenly exploded out of his mind.

Naruto glared into Omoi's eyes, and then suddenly, Naruto brought his arm forcefully down, cutting it off in an explosion of blood and flesh that quickly cut itself into hundreds of pieces of paper that began to float about in the air. The surrounding Team 7, Team Samui, and even the hidden Konan's eyes all widened as a flurry of paper fluttered all around the spar. Naruto glared at Omoi, the stump of his right arm spewing a little blood before a piece of paper folded over it, and suddenly brought his left hand in front of him in a hand seal.

The paper floating in the air stopped. A brief second of peace passed as the grass fluttered underneath Naruto's feat, before all of a sudden the pieces of paper launched at Omoi, who stood in awe of the beautiful dance of paper, even as he gained numerous, hundreds even, of tiny cuts that began to leak blood, spewing it everywhere when a new piece of paper sliced through his flesh.

When it stopped, Omoi dropped to the ground, breathing heavily, and the papers all flew back to Naruto, assembling around the stump of his arm, before taking form, gaining color, and eventually recreating his arm entirely. Naruto stared at Omoi, before he widened his eyes as the weight of his actions dawned on him.

-Line Break-

Tobi stared at the Uchiha Compound from atop one of the power line towers that stood outside of the compound itself, his single, glowing red eye staring maliciously at the clan compound. On the rooftops surrounding him were the Six Paths of Pein, whose purple eyes glowed alongside Tobi's own, casting a 13 eyed glare at the compound which housed one of Konoha's founding clans. Tobi's Tomoe spun rapidly, blurring into his eye until it slowed its spinning, revealing his Mangekyo Sharingan. Tobi muttered a phrase. "Spare no one." His piece finished, Tobi disappeared, as did Pein's paths.

Itachi woke to numerous screams which were then followed by a low rumble, prompting the Raven-eyed boy to dash out of his room, gathering his ANBU sword and finding his parents. "Tou-san! Kaa-san! I think Konoha is under attack! Get up!" Itachi demanded sternly, his Raven eyes quickly morphing into the Sharingan, which began to spin quickly in his worry. Fugaku got up quickly, with Mikoto getting up as well. "What's going on?" At Fugaku's question, another rumble and more screams hit their ears. Itachi did not answer, instead jumping through an open window, followed by his parents.

What they found made them all sick. Numerous houses were mere rubble now, and black fires licked the air above them, creating a canopy of heat over the Uchiha Compound. Bodies of their family members littered the streets, many missing limbs or even their heads. "What the hell is going on." Fugaku muttered, as his wife held back tears and vomit, while Itachi strode forward, glancing at one of the bodies. "How the… some of the bodies just don't have chakra anymore." Itachi stated his observation, before his eyes widened and he jumped back as black flames suddenly exploded around the body he was touching. He grit his teeth in anger and sorrow, looking up to find a man with a single Sharingan eye staring down at him from one of the power lines that littered his clan's compound.

"Uchiha…" The man muttered, disappearing and reappearing with his fist in Itachi's gut, prompting the teen to lurch forward, only to disappear in a flock of ravens as a sword slashed through the man who had punched him, the real Itachi falling forward slightly as he had expected his sword to hit something solid, not slice right through the man. "Wha-" Itachi couldn't finish his words as the man suddenly back handed him, causing the boy to fly into a house hold.

Tobi jumped backward as two fireballs surged towards him. "Pein!" Tobi shouted, and suddenly an orange haired body with glowing purple eyes appeared, holding its two hands forward. Fugaku and Mikoto watched as their fireballs harmlessly passed through some sort of barrier that projected around the orange haired figure. Fugaku glared, while Mikoto merely narrowed her eyes, watching as 5 more orange haired figures dropped down beside the two figures before. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw their eyes.

"F-Fugaku-kun, th-they have the same eyes as Sasuke-chan's t-teammate…" At her words, Tobi's single Sharingan eye widened immensely. "Wha-Pein. We need one of them alive to question them on this supposed wielder of your eyes." Tobi demanded, glaring at the woman, trying to mentally extract the information even though he knew it was helpless. Without warning, one of the orange haired figures exploded in a flurry of metal parts, as Itachi appeared with his sword drawn.

The Deva path turned around and aimed his hands at Itachi, who disappeared before the house behind him collapse into rubble that flew backwards. Itachi reappeared, stabbing into the Deva path and then disappearing again. Yahiko's body surged forward, before a large, burly figure stepped forward, gripping Yahiko's body, and disappearing in a Shunshin. Fugaku growled, rushing forward with Hand Signs flashing quickly.

Another fireball surged out of his mouth, except this time it was paired with a wind jutsu courtesy of Itachi, who appeared behind his father. Once again, the Orange Haired man from before stepped forward, raising his arms, only this time, Mikoto appeared in front of him, kicking him in his gut and sending him flying backwards into the other figures, with Tobi disappearing to avoid the jutsu. The Fireball incinerated the Preta and Animal path, leaving only the Human Path left, its long orange hair flowing slightly in the wind.

"Who are you!?" Fugaku demanded angrily, staring at the Orange Haired man that merely stared at him with glowing, ringed eyes. Fugaku grit his teeth. He had seen those eyes before. If he survived this, Sasuke's teammate was dead. The man merely stared at him, before Fugaku's eyes widened, his mouth parting as blood globs launched out of it. Fugaku looked down, seeing a sword impaling his gut. It was removed with a swift movement, allowing Fugaku to fall down onto the ground, gritting his teeth and gripping the hole in his gut even as it bled all over his hands.

Itachi and Mikoto stared at Fugaku as he groaned in pain, their eyes trailing slowly to the man wearing the orange mask standing behind him as he casually wiped a bloody sword. "Such a waste the Uchiha Clan is. Granted incredible powers through the Sharingan, and yet they can't get over their hate to become something better than they are. Good thing that, after tonight, they'll all be dead." Tobi stated calmly, his Sharingan eye twitching crazily, his tomoe spinning erratically. Itachi glared at him, tears streaming down his eyes. Blood slowly began to combine with his tears, as his Sharingan eye morphed into a Mangekyo. Tobi took notice of this, grinning behind his mask.

"Ah, you've gained a Mangekyo. Nice job. Wanna see mine?" Tobi gave Itachi a thumbs up, before his eye morphed into his Mangekyo and black flames spewed out of his eye towards Itachi. Itachi jumped backwards, while Tobi merely stood there, watching him with his single eye. What Tobi did not account for, was Mikoto, which he came to regret as his own sword, which he had dropped lazily, was stabbed through his midsection, and then ripped out of his left side. Tobi kamuied away, reappearing by the Human Path, who looked down at him.

Mikoto glared at the two as the Human Path allowed Tobi to reach his arm around it. Her eye bled as it morphed into the Mangekyo as well, and the Human Path watched as she grabbed a special kunai from the ground near Fugaku, apparently dropped by the man. It was a Tri-pointed kunai, with seals running down its grip. She growled out while panting, before throwing the Kunai at the ground, causing a flash of yellow light to explode out, even as puffs of smoke erupted as the other Paths of Pein appeared, completely healed. Once again, however the Naraka path puffed away, this time taking Tobi, who glared angrily with blood dripping out of his mask.

Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, stared sternly when he appeared, his arms crossed, before they widened as he stared at all of the destruction and death around him. "Oh my, Fugaku!" Minato dropped to the ground, rolling Fugaku over, who coughed up blood and grinned at him. "Heh, hey M-Minato." Quickly, the pair disappeared in a yellow flash once more, and 5 seconds later Minato once again reappeared.

The remaining 5 paths of Pein stared into Minato's eyes, their glowing purple eyes making Minato recall his daughters teammate. "Yondaime." The Deva Path spoke, its voice low and demanding. "I will be leaving." The Yondaime glared, disappearing as he dashed forward, though Pein saw it all. The Preta path stepped forward casually, extending its arms, and Minato appeared, a Rasengan in hand, which was handily dealt with by the Preta Path. Minato's eyes widened and his bottom lip dropped slightly, before his extended hand was gripped by the Deva Path, as it pointed its free hand down at Minato. "Shinra Tensei."

An explosion followed, rumbling through the entirety of the Uchiha Compound, and as the dust faded, the Paths of Pein were gone, a broken, bloody Yondaime Hokage left in their wake. Alive, thankfully.


	9. Chapter 9

" _I'm giving_ _ **everything**_ _up for peace. What more could I do?"_

" _Stop giving everything up."_

* * *

Naruto stood shakily, his eyes wide and wild. He felt it again. He felt alone. Surrounded by a shocked and demanding Team 7. Surrounded by a shocked and demanding Team Samui. His arm had _surrounded_ his opponent. His _arm._ Had _surrounded_ his opponent. He was now surrounded by his own failure. His failure to compose himself. To keep a level head. To _hide._

"Naruto, what…" Sasuke stepped forward, her ebony eyes glinted in an almost… elated manner. Two single tomoe Sharingan that Naruto did not know she possessed came to life, bleeding red into his vision as it seemed everything else blurred away. She was excited, but also soft-spoken, having been shaken up by what she had witnessed.

"What was that!?" She yelled out suddenly, her voice a mix of emotions that Naruto did not ever want to dissect. The almost betrayed anger in the mix cut deep.

"I-I, wha-" Naruto stuttered out, backing up and falling onto his back, struggling to get _away._ His failures, his lonesome, all of it threatened to _drown_ him. His eyes glowed erratically, a detail Sasuke and Kushina were keen to notice. It made Kushina narrow her eyes and Sasuke smirk, the crinkle of her cheek reaching her eye.

"Wasn't Tou-san supposed to get Ero-nii to check Naruto-kun's eyes?" Natsumi whispered, staring up at her mother. Kushina nodded, eyes locked on the frantic and clearly panicked Naruto who appeared to be on the cusp of a full blown panic attack. "Y-Yes, but Jiraiya was busy looking into reports of some red clouds." Kushina's words were code, but Natsumi knew what she meant.

Kushina stared at her wayward student. She always felt a strong desire to help the boy, he was certainly the student in most need of help, and he was even a contender for the person in _Konoha_ in most need of help. But, his level of _acceptance_ of everything that happened to him was off putting. He almost seemed to enjoy being homeless of all things. Eventually, Kushina began to focus heavily on her two female students, and not for the reason an outsider might think. She just couldn't bear to look at the boy without feeling a whole mountain of conflict. And, she was loathe to admit, Kushina was weak when it came to the boy. He looked exactly like a young Minato. She had even once entertained the idea that if Natsumi were born a boy she would be a mirror reflection of Naruto, plus whiskers.

This uncanny resemblance made her weak. The boy's seemingly endless struggles stabbed a stake into Kushina's heart and even into her seal, for she felt _pain_ from the Kyuubi. That pain was nearly _unbearable_ right now, and she could never figure out why. She would have to bring it up with Minato as soon as the Chunin Exams were over.

Meanwhile, Konan felt **it.** That buildup. Naruto was being overwhelmed, even a toddler could see it. She watched as he writhed on his back, folding himself upwards until he sat on his knees, staring down at his hands, which were shaking and contorting. Why was his team content to stand and watch? Why was the Uchiha girl content to scream and demand where he had learned her origami? Konan would have waited, but the glow from Naruto's eyes was beginning to turn his huddled ball into a purple lantern. If he released it now in a Shrina Tensei, he may very well kill his team.

"Tell me! Naruto! Where did you learn that!?" Sasuke demanded, this time forcing her hand underneath Naruto's huddled head and grasping the collar of his shirt, hoisting him upward and staring into his eyes. The ethereal glow shut her up, and the boy's eyelids fluttered dangerously. "S-Shinra-"

A soft hand rested itself lightly onto Sasuke's hand, and another came around and brought Naruto into an embrace, tugging him away from Sasuke as the other hand rejoined it. Blue hair fell down lightly as an origami rose acting as a hair pin fluttered down from its spot atop the mystery woman's head, floating down into her hand before she tucked it into Naruto's hair, the glow from his eyes disappearing as fast as the Yondaime Hokage could.

"There, better now Naruto?" A soft voice acted as a rather grating and hard contrast to Sasuke's own rougher voice rang out in the training ground. In response, the blonde boy's mouth lit up in an instant smile as he jumped up and turned around, diving right back into the woman's bosom, hugging her tightly before suddenly gasping and stepping back, eyes staring up into her own. "Wait-"

"And who are you?" Kushina's cold voice interrupted the blonde boy, prompting him to turn around in a panicked manner, and for the mystery woman to merely stare up slowly, a soft smile overcoming her face as she closed her eyes slowly.

"Ah, sorry I forgot Naruto hasn't introduced me to you yet. My name is Konan, I've been teaching Naruto my origami techniques since your team arrived in Kumogakure. I must admit I am shocked to see he's managed to progress it far enough to turn his arm into paper," at this point she rested her hand on Naruto's head and ruffled his hair slightly, grinning lightly at him, "Been practicing all on your own, eh Naruto?" At her words, Naruto caught what she was doing and nodded happily, a smile gracing his face as he tried to keep up the act.

Sasuke's red eyes lit up before anyone else's, rushing forward and pointing a finger accusingly at Naruto. "You've been getting outside training!? That's not fair! You!" Sasuke pointed up at Konan this time, "I demand you teach me," Sasuke glanced back for a brief moment, before returning her glare to Konan, "And Natsumi as well! Whatever Naruto can do I'm sure I can do 100 times better!" Her words stung, and Naruto began to shrink away, distancing himself from Konan and Sasuke, before Konan's arm snapped outward and wrapped around his shoulder, forcing him back into her side.

"Actually, Uchiha-san," a cold edge had sharpened Konan's voice, her words a storm of kunai into Sasuke's side, "I've chosen Naruto heir apparent to my techniques, and even if I had not," Konan's eyes darkened, and Sasuke suddenly felt a weight claim her shoulders, as her knees began to shake, "I doubt you have the aptitude or control of your chakra to perform origami techniques. _Especially_ not a chakra powerhouse like an Uzumaki princess."

Sasuke seemed like she was about to explode, but Naruto beat her to it as softly spoken words began to leak from his mumbling mouth. "A-Actually I think they would be better than me at it."

Before Konan could reply Kushina quickly latched onto his words. "Naruto has been learning at a slower rate than these two, perhaps we could work out an agreement to strengthen the relationship between Konoha and Kumo via the exchange of jutsu?" Kushina's words shocked Naruto. So she _had_ noticed he learned slower. Well, he knew she noticed. But to hear her _say it_ hurt.

Suddenly, Naruto found himself outside of Konan's grip, instead next to the single tree in the training ground, _Natsumi's_ arm wrapped around him, a defiant gleam in her eyes as the rest of those involved stared at her and Naruto, before looking back at Konan's arm to see a shadow clone of Natsumi there smiling meekly, before dispelling itself in a small puff of smoke.

"Natsumi what're you do-" "Shut it Sasuke! And you too Ka-san! You are both putting Naruto down and acting like he isn't our _teammate!_ Well I- I can't stand it!" Her angry and confused screams shut everyone up except Sasuke, who ran forward with her teeth grit as well as an angry, hurt gleam in her eyes. "What!? You _know_ that's not what I'm doing!" Sasuke accused in an angry growl, pointing her finger up at Natsumi.

Natsumi seemed conflicted as well, but regardless she formed a shadow clone beside her that formed a few hand seals as Natsumi grasped its shoulders, causing the pair to disappear in a shunshin.

* * *

Minato groaned in pain from his residency inside the most heavily guarded medical ward Konoha had to offer. Tsunade hovered over him, concern practically glowing from her eyes as she worked tirelessly to heal the man. "I'm alright Tsunade," at his words he coughed up a small bit of blood almost as if on que, but waved away Tsunade's concerned glowing hands, "How's Fugaku holding up?" He voiced his concern for one of his best friends. Tsunade smiled, finding comfort in his concern for others, before reaching for a clipboard that held the information on the man.

"He was stabbed directly through one of his kidneys, and scratched his liver. He is very lucky to be alive, had you not arrived as soon as you did he would've died in maybe 2 minutes or so. Thankfully we managed to stabilize him when he arrived, though his now missing kidney may be an issue. Though, finding a suitable donor won't be hard now with the *ahem* influx of available donors. Speaking of, the aggressors were stopped before they managed to nab any of the eyes. What do you want to be done with them?" Tsunade finished up, staring at the man who was the Hokage, no matter how injured he was.

"ANBU!" At Minato's call, his personal four ANBU guards appeared, bowing deeply. "Gather a squad. I want all of those bodies collected before Danzo can even think about collecting any. If even one is missing I want it found immediately." They bowed a little deeper to show their understanding, before they once more disappeared, though Tsunade noted one stayed behind to protect their Hokage, even if he was rather well hidden as a pen that had rolled under the Hokage's bed.

"Tsunade," at his tired call, the Senju woman perked up. "Do you happen to have a mission log on hand? I believe having one on hand was part of your medicinal reform." Minato questioned, his eyes closed as he attempted to stave off the pain with small meditation.

"Yes I do, I've got it right here." Tsunade hastily handed it to the man, before returning to her delicate healing of his shattered femur.

"Hmmm… There were 16 Uchiha out on missions, another 4 out on guard duty, 6 more patrolling Konoha for police duty, and finally 2 more on classified missions. Also please make a motion to remove the medicinal ward's access to classified missions. Head Doctor eyes only. 1 copy available and no more copies able to be made. Now, with those numbers, that makes for 28 Uchiha that avoided the incident, excluding any that survived at the compound. Thankfully the entirety of the head family survived, and Itachi gave me some details on the attacker. He believes that had I been informed and knew of the intruder's abilities I may have been able to incapacitate the majority if not all of the intruders. Though he noted the sprial-masked one held a Sharingan of immense power, able to spew the flames of Amaterasu and Kamui all from one eye. With a potential second eye either hidden behind the mask or missing all together…" Minato mumbled to himself the last part, his mind working overtime while his body attempted to heal.

"I believe that this same masked individual may be the same one who attacked Kushina during Natsumi's birth." At his words, Tsunade's eyes widened exponentially, having been at the birth. She knew of the power that man held, able to phase through attacks and even summon forth the Kyuubi from Kushina's previous seal. Tsunade went to say something, but Minato's calculating face shut her up, watching as his mind ran a mile a minute.

"And, I didn't catch a good glimpse, but I believe the intruders, minus the Sharingan wielder, had the same eyes as Natsumi-chan's teammate, Naruto I believe his name was. This potentially presents a serious problem. We didn't have any record of his eyes anytime before his house incident, did we?" Minato questioned. Tsunade checked through her records to ensure she gave him the correct information.

"No. The records we have of him and his family before that night are standard. He was born as almost a carbon copy of you, Blue eyes, Blonde hair, though he lacked an aptitude for teachings, either shinobi or civilian teachings. His parents were much the same, average merchant civilians that had settled down permanently in Konoha two months before he was born it looks like. The father was an exemplary Hi no Kuni native, brown hair and hazel eyes, while the mother had the blonde hair and blue eyes that the brat inherited." Tsunade read off, lowering the clipboard to look at Minato with focused eyes, watching a genius in action.

"Hmm, and what of the boy after the incident? I believe I ordered the Academy teachers to watch and make sure he didn't have abnormal psyche damage from the incident." Minato questioned once more, tiredly dragging his eyes to Tsunade's frame.

"Yes you did, let's see here… It looks like he suddenly began to exhibit extreme insight, the likes of which began to shock Iruka and other Academy teachers. Things that civilian, let alone orphaned, children should not know or comprehend. Things such as knowing that the Academy Style of Taijutsu is used to get students used to fighting instead of being used as an actual style, viewing the spars as useless since they did not affect his score, and even began to comprehend the gap that existed between clan children and civilian children. It looks like, while his practical scores remained low, his theory and general education scores rose on in-class answers alone, Iruka even making a comment that he began to think that Naruto had begun to view his homework as useless, putting in one line answers that were far below what Iruka believed the boy to be capable of at the time."

"Hmpf." Minato grunted, letting the information sink in. Tsunade began to work on his own medical report, before Minato prompted her once more.

"I believe Kushina began to notice… abnormalities in the boy's personality as well. The first and foremost she mentioned was a feeling of self-worthlessness. Natsumi told me that Naruto asked his team if they were happy with the placements before Kushina came in, telling them to not worry about it as soon as Kushina walked in, placing a smile on his face as he said so. This could point to dissatisfaction with the placements, for why I still don't know, but I have a feeling it might be connected to his self-perception. Kushina, if I recall, reinforced the academy reports of extreme insight, not even 5 minutes into the real genin exam realizing that the bells were a ploy, and even determining that it was _impossible_ for his team to fail, and in that regard he was right. Whether they grasped the concept of teamwork or not was moot considering Sasuke and Natsumi-chan's practical capability…"

Tsunade nodded, though was inwardly a little angry at that notion, before Minato began to speak again.

"Regardless, the boy has suddenly come into importance as of late. Jiraiya was unable to observe his eyes as I requested, still investigating the Akatsuki, but I will be forcing him to come with me to Kumo for the chunin exams. You as well Tsunade. I believe Itachi will want to come as well, to inform Sasuke of the… incident. I will not deny him that chance. We will observe Naruto's skills, and will confront him _after_ the exams are over, if only to avoid controversy. I pray for that boy that he wasn't involved with the intruders. Kami help him if he was." Minato's words held weight, even the pen-illusioned ANBU beneath his bed felt it. The chunin exams suddenly became much more important. Not only would Konoha have to show its strength after an event like the _Uchiha Massacre,_ as it was dubbed by common folk, but now they had a potential conspiracy on their hands.

In another room, Fugaku began to feed Itachi's eyes with hatred. Anger. And it was directed at one Naruto. No surname.


	10. Chapter 10

**This is not a chapter, this is a notice. Peace is being rewritten from the ground up.**

 **The first chapter is up, and the fic is called "Family" now. There will be a different focus.**

 **Read the summary of Family before reading it, you will understand.**


End file.
